The Replacement
by The Invisible Fan
Summary: After a mission nearly fails a team member is lost. With Sena and Kyo replacing their lost teammate, Weiss must quickly become a functioning team again if they hope to survive. Set in the TV series. 03/08 Edited because of format issues.
1. Murphy's Law

**Rating:** PG-13

**Genre:** Angst, Action, Horror

**Timeline:** Set sometime in the TV series. Aya-chan isn't awake and Persia isn't dead. That's all that matters.

**Summary:** After a mission nearly fails a team member is lost. With Sena and Kyo replacing their lost teammate, Weiss must quickly become a functioning team again if they hope to survive.

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, make no profit. This is fanfiction...this should be obvious...

**A/N **_**(edited March 2008):**_ Ok so sometime between when I originally posted this and now, ff. net decided to eat the quotation marks on the first four chapters. I only found out because I was looking over some of my stories. Hopefully I've fixed the problem. I'm not sure what caused this since I didn't have the problem when I first uploaded it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

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**The Replacement**

**Chapter 1 - Murphy's Law**

Icy rain poured down in sheets, soaking though his heavy coat. Yohji shivered. Somehow he just knew he was going to catch a cold from all this. Heck, they all would. Except Ken. Ken was always one of those disgustingly healthy types.

He shifted slightly in his perch, trying to ease the growing numbness in his toes. Idly, he wondered how he had gotten into this mess. Oh yeah, the mission. Getting in had been the easy part. Getting out... well that was proving to be a different story. Who would have thought that the crime lord's followers would keep fighting after he was dead? A simple mission. Yeah, right. Since when were mission's ever simple? People had a habit of fighting their hardest when their lives were on the line.

This time their target was a man dealing in shady business with experimental drugs. He had been slipping them into the mainstream supplies, and then watching the devastating effects that they had on innocent people. Somehow it oddly reminded him of Musafami and Schirient. Yohji thanked his lucky stars that neither was involved.

Kritiker suspected that their target might not have been working alone. A mission regarding that was pending. In the meantime they were to eliminate the known culprit.

His radio crackled to life, snapping him out of his reverie,"Balinese, Status."

"Short and to the point as always, eh Abyssinian?" Yohji couldn't keep the smirk out of his voice, "Currently this kitty is up a tree with some nasty dogs below."

"Balinese..." Aya did not sound amused.

"I'm serious," Yohji dropped the light tone, "I'm up here hiding in a tree while dogs and guards roam about below. Thankfully they haven't found me yet." He fell silent as a dog passed by below, "How is everyone else faring?"

"Bombay is in the air vents, Siberian is making his way around the labs, and I'm in a closet."

Yohji chuckled, "I could have told you that last part."

Balinese Yohji could hear the sub-arctic glare. He grinned to himself, it was always much more fun (and safer) to tease Aya when he couldn't do anything about it.

"Abyssinian, Balinese, Siberian, I think I have a way to get us out," Omi's voice came over the radio.

"Hurry up and tell us then, the situation isn't going to get any better you know."

"No kidding, the irony might give me lead poisoning any minute." A dog bark could be heard over the radio.

"What does lead poisoning have to do with irony?" Ken asked, bewildered.

"...I'll explain it later. Now what about this escape plan? I'm wet and I'm cold and getting sick would put a serious damper on my social life. Not to mention my work schedule, " he added that last part for Aya, aka Mr. Diehard-Business-Man.

"Well what we need is a diversion. Something like an explosion or a fire. Anything to draw their attention immediately. Siberian, can you find something in the labs to set off?"

"No problem, I see a bunch of bunsen burners right over--" He was cut off by the crack of a gunshot. They heard the telltale sharp intake of breath that always accompanied an injury.

"Siberian! Report!" Aya's clipped tones responded first.

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch."

More gunfire.

"Get ready guys, we should get some fireworks here pretty soon. I'll meet you all back at the shop okay?"

"Siberian, situation report," Aya was not going to let Ken dismiss the sounds he knew they were hearing.

"Just a few trigger happy guards, nothing I can't handle," It might have been his imagination but Ken's voice sounded strained.

"Are you sure your all right?" Omi must have noticed it as well.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Alright... but be careful okay?" Omi didn't sound convinced, and for that matter neither was he.

"Will do. Get ready to make a run for it." Moments later, a resounding KABOOM rocked through the building. As predicted, the guards all went to investigate the explosion. The assassin sprang from their hiding places and raced for the edge of the compound.

"Balinese clear."

"Bombay clear."

"Abyssinian clear."

"Hey Siberian?"

"Almost clear, be out in a minute."

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Wearily, Aya entered their living quarters above the Koneko. A quick survey told him that he had been the first to arrive back. Somehow he usually did when they arrived separately. He always took the most direct route back. There was also the matter of his driving habits...

After taking a quick shower and bandaging up the minor wounds he had gotten, her settle out on the couch with a book to wait for the others to return.

Returning separately was not something he enjoyed, though sometimes it was nessary. He like to know all his teammates were present and accounted for. Perhaps he was being a bit paranoid and overprotective, but it was just the way he was. It was also part of what made him a good field leader.

Moments after he had settled down Yohji returned. Barely acknowledging Aya, Yohji somberly went up to his room. Omi returned barely five minutes later. Unable to fight off exhaustion any further, Aya drifted off to sleep on the couch, his book resting in his lap...

"Aya!" He shifted slightly in his sleep.

"Oy! Aya!" Who kept yelling for his sister? He wished she'd hurry up and answer them so he could rest already...

"Aya! Wake up!" Oh yeah... he was Aya... He found himself being shaken... He didn't like it.

WHACK!

Before him stood Yohji... with an imprint of his book on his cheek. Whoops. Ah well, he only hit him in the head, he'd be all right.

"Hey! You didn't have to hit me you know! Geez! You sleep like the dead!"

Do not.

Glancing over at the clock Aya noted that it was only 6 a.m. Wait... Why was Yohji the one waking him up?!

As if reading his train of thought, Yohji responded," Someone reset my alarm clock and hid it yesterday, so relax, it's not a sign of the apocalypse." Yohji cast an accusatory look at Omi.

"If I hadn't you never would have gotten up in time," Omi grinned from the doorway.

"I do hope you know, I'll get you for that."

Omi chose to ignore the promise of revenge, "Kind of funny though, you actually get up on time and Aya is the one that oversleeps. Well as close as Aya gets to oversleeping."

"I take it back, it must be a sign of the apocalypse."

Aya frowned at that. It wasn't as if he planned to fall asleep on the couch. If they hadn't taken so long to get back last night he wouldn't have either. He would have been sipping some tea and reading the newspaper by the time Omi was hitting his alarm clock for the third time.

"Where's Kenken? He ought to be here enjoying this early morning party," Yohji had a mischievous glint in his eye as he contemplated the less than pleasant ways to wake up their final comrade.

"Probably still asleep. He's as bad as you when it comes to mornings."

"Well we should remedy that now shouldn't we? What do you think we should do? Ice water? Or just go for the good ole kick onto the floor? Hmm? I think the kick." Yohji sauntered up the stairs, with Omi trailing behind to break up the inevitable fight.

Aya sighed and went up to his room to get ready for work. He was just coming back down stairs with the thought of cooking breakfast when he was nearly run into by a worried Omi.

"Aya! Have you seen Ken?"

"No," Aya shook his head, shoving away the nagging feeling that arose.

"I can't find him anywhere..." Omi's brows creased with worry, "I can't think of anywhere he could have gone so early..."

As callous as he may seem at times, Aya cared fiercely for each of his teammates. Giving in to what he a perceived, and hoped was an irrational worry , he quickly strode down to the basement. Perplexed, Omi followed.

Throwing open the doors to the weapons locker. His eyes widened at the sight. Ken's claws were missing.

Omi spoke the conclusion they both came to, "He didn't come home last night..."

Aya found his voice, "Tell Yohji, I'll contact Manx."

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Hope you liked it! There is a button. It says "review." An amazing thing happens if you click it...


	2. I Never Betrayed You

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, make no profit.

**A/N **_**(edited March 2008):**_ Ok so sometime between when I originally posted this and now, ff. net decided to eat the quotation marks on the first four chapters. I only found out because I was looking over some of my stories. Hopefully I've fixed the problem. I'm not sure what caused this since I didn't have the problem when I first uploaded it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

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**Chapter 2 - I Never Betrayed You**

A sharp click of heels told of Manx's arrival even before she came into view on the basement stairs. "I want a full report now. Not the reader's digest version I got before," Manx did not look pleased. They wasted no time in filling in everything that happened, each taking turns. Manx's expression remained serious.

"You have been unable to find him in between here and the target site?" They shook their heads. They had spent several hours doing just that.

"You have a new mission." Their ears perked up as Manx started the mission tape.

Within moment's the silhouette of Persia appeared on he screen,"Your target is the last target's collaborator, Tanaka. He has been involved in inhumane experiments using both people and animals. He has been responsible for many monstrous atrocities loose in the surrounding wilderness around his lab." Images of strange mutations that looked like mix-n-match between people and animals flashed across the screen. It seemed as if he had been trying to turn one into the other. Or that's what the results appeared to be in any case. "White hunters of the night, deny this dark beast his tomorrow." The tape ended.

Omi looked questioningly at Manx, "What about Ken?"

"MIA, presumed dead," she coldly responded. Omi gaped at her. Her eyes softened at bit, "There is a small chance he's been captured. If that's the case then Tanaka probably has him. Don't let any search get in the way of the mission."

"Okay!" A glimmer of hope shone in his eyes.

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"How's the research coming Omi?"

"Argh..." Omi looked about ready to throw something at his computer.

"That good huh?" Yohji looked sympathetic.

"None of this makes any sense!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's as if our mission did effect their activity at this location at all. Usually activity at a mission site drops to zero after our mission because we've proved their security useless and they usually lack the manpower afterwards to keep it useful to them. This location, still has a great deal of activity. Too much to be them pulling out of the site. Things are going in. Not just going out. It's a good location, far enough from prying eyes, yet our mission seems to have left them unfazed. Our new target even has been spending a lot of time there."

"Perhaps there is more to this location than it would seem," Yohji mused, his PI instincts kicking in. Looking at the blueprints Omi absconded, he was suddenly struck by a realization. "Hey Omi..."

"What is it Yohji?"

"This section right here..." he tapped the blueprint, "This is the area Ken blew up right?"

Sorrow flashed though Omi's eyes at the mention of Ken's name. He had been trying not to think about it, saving everything for after the completion of the mission. They couldn't make a mistake before the mission that might cost them another comrade. They had a mission, a mission where they might find Ken. So he threw everything he had into it.

Looking over that the blueprint where Yohji indicated, Omi nodded, "That was the area where he was stationed."

"Didn't he say he was around some labs? This says there's nothing but a bunch of offices..."

Blinking, Omi examined the diagram. It showed that there should have been a bunch of tiny offices either that or a bunch of large closets. Hardly big enough for even the smallest labs. "Either the building has had it's interior redone... Or this diagram is false."

"Maybe there's a hidden area, or an underground facility. That would explain why they've kept using the building. Especially if they know it was unmapped."

"Maybe I can hack into their security camera network. Perhaps we can use that to get a good look around or find out if there's a hidden level. Hopefully they've repaired the camera lines we cut."

"Heh, that's the first time I've ever heard you say that you want the security cameras to be on."

Omi chose to ignore that comment.

Yohji stretched a bit then turned towards the door,"I'll do some surveillance on the place, maybe we can figure out what's going on in there by what's going in."

"Take Aya with you."

"...do I have to?"

"Yotan..." Omi did his best impression of Aya's glare, "It'll be safer with both of you and at least one of you will actually be doing work instead of slacking off."

"I resent that."

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Powdery white snow fell outside. The weather had finally gotten cold enough that the rain of before had now become snow. Dull lifeless eyes watched as they floated dispassionately by the tiny window to join the rest of their kind. It had been two days. Two days and his minutes were numbered. After years of being death's bringer it was being brought to him.

He tried to shift his position sitting on the floor and bit back a cry of pain. He wouldn't make a noise. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction. He had told them nothing, despite the brutal torture and countless violations they had inflicted upon his person. Who would have guessed that Tanaka harbored such interest in western medieval torture?

But he had given them nothing. He wouldn't betray his teammates, his brothers... And it was that thought, that streak of stubbornness, that had gotten him this far. Gotten him to the point where they were going to kill him knowing no more than when they had caught him.

A bitter smile crossed his abused features as the door opened. Siberian was roughly half dragged from his place of confinement towards the fate that awaited him.

He would never betray them.

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Their investigation had been rushed, no doubt about that. But every night that had gone by lessened their chances of finding Ken alive. Not to mention gave their target more of a chance to recover from their previous mission.

Time. Things were progressing too slowly and too quickly at the same time. At times it was more than his analytical mind could handle. For better or worse things would be resolved tonight. Answers would be found, and the source of their grief would die.

He tested the edge of his katana for sharpness, then sheathed it. Tonight there would be only one thing waiting for those foolish enough to get in his way -

Death.

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Okay so this chapter's a bit shorter than the last one. Sorry about that! But this just seemed like a good point to end the chapter. Next chapter is the mission!


	3. Murphy's Law Revisited

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, make no profit.

**A/N **_**(edited March 2008):**_ Ok so sometime between when I originally posted this and now, ff. net decided to eat the quotation marks on the first four chapters. I only found out because I was looking over some of my stories. Hopefully I've fixed the problem. I'm not sure what caused this since I didn't have the problem when I first uploaded it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

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**Chapter 3 - Murphy's Law Revisited**

Idly he noticed that he was leaving a trail of blood across the pristine white floor as he was being dragged along by two big burly men. That was going to be a difficult stain to get out. He would know. Who decorates in white anyway?

Oh wait that's not the floor... that's snow. When had they gone outside? Why couldn't he put a coherent thought together? Well at least he knew his mind wasn't completely gone... yet. A sane man questions his sanity. An insane man doesn't.

The men opened a door to a shed outside the facility. Next to the shed stood a wood chipper dusted with snow. They threw him into a pile of something stiff, but not hard. He closed his eyes as a bolt of pain lanced though his body.

When he opened his eyes he found himself staring into the dead eyes of a corpse. He was on a pile of corpses. Oddly, the only thought to pass though his mind at this unpleasant revelation was... _Oh, hello._

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Aya was perched in a tree overlooking the compound like some bird of prey. From his lofty perch he could see everything, even the nearby railroad yard. A train was just now departing, it's head of steam trailing out behind it like the tail of a mare galloping at full speed. A true iron horse. Aya could felt an odd camaraderie with that train. Traveling only where the tracks would take you, only having an influence on your destination at key points. Then being doomed to your decision and where it took you.

He watched the train until it was hidden from sight, it's sunset colored paint job vanishing in the rapidly dimming twilight. Turning his attention back to the washed out landscape before him he studied the compound, noting the changes in security. The compound was one large two story building, it was plain looking and could be an office building for all the exterior revealed. There was a smaller building adjacent to it probably a shed or some similar storage facility with what appeared to be a... wood chipper outside it?

An odd dark spray beneath the wood chipper contrasted sharply with the pristine white snow, the lack of lighting concealed the identity of the dark spray however.

5...4...3...2...1

The guard shift was changing. Time to swing into action. Signaling to the others, he descended upon the the distracted guards. Two guards down at each post the three of them attacked. Fewer guards to respond later, but it wouldn't come to that. not this time.

They were sticking together this time. Oddly it had been him who insisted upon this. Splitting up mean each would be on his own. They didn't have enough numbers to have each go in pairs like they usually did. There would be no one to watch the other's back. To much vulnerability. To much risk. Tonight he was not in the mood to take chances. At least not with his teammates lives.

Slipping down the halls like shadows, they came to the area where the entrance to the lab should be. The scorched and burnt walls made finding it difficult but also gave them some camouflage in the normally pristine beige interior.

"Look, this area has been used recently," Omi fiddled with the wall, looking for a switch. Yohji and Aya came over and began to search as well.

"Found it." Yohji pressed a nondescript switch hidden next what appeared to have once been a wall mounted light fixture.

With the sound of grating metal, bars slid down over the doorway, halting with the loud thud often associated with velocity meeting a large immobile object, in this case, the floor. Yohji swore. Loudly as he could given the circumstances. Aya was tempted to as well, but doubted he could have come up with anything nearly as colorful as Yohji.

"We need to find a way out. Now."

"No really! I thought we should wait and all get killed!"

"Now is not the time to be arguing! There's got to be a way out of here somewhere!"

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Omi sighed. They had been searching for what seemed like an eternity with no method of exit presenting itself to them. Yohji had given up searching for the time being, and sat atop an overturned desk. Aya had begun to pace like a caged tiger, pausing now and then to peer down the hallway, his eyes narrowed and dangerous.

Click. Click. Click.

The lonely sound of footsteps rang out in the hallway. The assassins'' attention immediately swung to the potential threat. Taking up positions on either side of the doorway, they waited for the person to approach.

They didn't have to wait long.

"Here kitty kitty kitty..."

No response.

"Oh drop this charade will you. We both know your in there right next to the door. Waiting for your opportunity to strike. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't insult my intelligence with this game of yours."

Omi glance around the corner of the doorway. There stood their target. Tanaka. Just out of arm's reach. But his reach wasn't limited to his arm's length. Stepping into view, though out of Tanaka's reach, Omi glared at Tanaka. Yohji followed his lead, also having a long range weapon. Aya stayed where he was, no need to give away their numbers.

"That's better. I don't suppose either of you would be willing to talk would you? It would make things so much easier on all of us."

"Sorry, but you won't be getting any information out of us," Yohji folded his arms, his opposite hand covering his watch, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"Your comrade said that too. Right up until he died. It's amazing how long you can draw out death. How many bones you can break... joints you can dislocate... how much pain you can inflict... without killing someone... By the time your through the body is hardly recognizable as a body. Water torture has interesting effects as well..." Tanaka looked wistful, as if recalling a fond memory. Snapping back into business mode, he continued, "You don't have to go through all that you know, spare yourself the torment, and tell me what I want to know. Fair, don't you think?"

"What have you done with Siberian?" Omi ground out though clenched teeth, barely remembering to use code names.

"You mean your little comrade?" Tanaka threw some familiar bloody gloves at their feet, "I'm afraid I didn't leave a body for you to mourn over. These will have to suffice. It's amazing what you can do with a wood chipper you know."

Omi had heard enough. In the blink of an eye he pulled out a poisoned dart and sent it though Tanaka's eye. A single choked cry came from Tanaka's lips before he fell forward, to the ground, dead. "Serves him right. Bastard."

Tonelessly, Yohji spoke, "Mission accomplished."

Emerging from his place in the shadows, Aya reached through the bars and removed what appeared to be a remote from the body. After a minute of fiddling with it the bars retracted, enabling them to begin the journey home.

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Grief. Each has their own way of dealing with it. For him, it was distraction. Flirting, talking, drinking. It was all a means of escape from the reality of things. The reality that he was a highly paid killer with the only consolation that he was ridding the world of an evil person of which there was no other way to deal with.

Aya had thrown himself into his work, and if anything was colder to them than before. Yohji understood the man's reasoning, distance was his weak shield against the pain that plagued him. A faulty reasoning but Yohji wasn't one to smash the harmless delusions of others.

Omi was dealing with it the most healthy way out of the three of them. He was quiet and not as cheerful. Except when they were working in the Koneko, then he just wasn't as bubbly and outgoing. He was somber when working on the computer and who knows what he was doing when he was working on it, but lately he had been spending a lot of time on it. Looking for distractions probably.

It had barely been a week when the message came from Manx. A replacement would be sent to their team.

They had all been against it. Their team had achieved a delicate balance in the week since the news of Ken's death. Throwing someone who had no idea about them or anything would only create chaos. Then again, Kritiker seemed to excel at that. It was evening when Manx arrived as per usual, but this time she was met with stern but tired looks.

"Good evening boys, " Manx greeted them, her tone flat, "Tomorrow you will meet your new teammates."

"Teammates?!" Omi was shocked, "Who else is being replaced?!"

"No one else is being replaced. You are having an extra teammate added. It's Persia's decision."

"Why?" As always Aya's response was short and to the point.

"It's not for me to say."

Aya's eyes narrowed. He hated being kept in the dark. Yohji knew there was more to this than they were being told. Why would they get two new teammates? He thought back to when Aya was added. His addition had made sense. It evened out their numbers and given them two close range fighters and two long range fighters. How would two new members benefit them?

"Will they be staying with us or will they be elsewhere?" Omi began to try and figure out the logistics of things.

"They will be staying with you of course. It's important for you to be familiar with each other and each other's routines. They will be working in the flower shop as well. They will have to learn to make arrangements. One of them has spent a few years working in Kritiker's information processing and his help should be useful to you, Omi."

"What about the other?" Yohji decided he was going to try and learn as much as he could from Manx about these new people.

"He's still new to Kritiker. Persia's trusting you to train him well."

"Ranged or close quarters weapons?"

"One of each. Enough question for now. You can ask them when you meet them tomorrow night."

Somehow this was hardly reassuring.

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_A week earlier... _

Shiro liked working in the railroad yards. It was hardly quiet work with trains coming and going at all hours of the night. But this being a train yard in the country far away from any of the major cities. The scenery was nice and the air was fresh and clean. The town had one of those close and cozy atmospheres. An atmosphere that made the life there all that more desirable. Everyone knew each other and the life was peaceful.

Wiping the sweat from his brow he slid open the door of the last car of the day and jumped up inside. What he found here made his breath catch in his throat.

"Somebody call an ambulance quick!!" Before him lay the severely injured and bloody body of a young man.

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Hope you liked it! If you guessed the new members are Sena and Kyo your right! Kyo was Mr. Information in Glühen so I figured he probably had some experience with that before so I'm playing with that a little.

Is it just me or when you post things on it look a lot shorter than when you have it all typed up in the word processor?


	4. Tell us of the Night

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, make no profit.

**A/N: **And here it is... the next chapter! I apologize in advance for any thing that seems out of character... I was having a little trouble getting a grip on Sena and Kyo's personalities but I think I've worked it out. Names have kept in the Japanese order of family name and then given name, because the boy's names just sound weird to me when they're the other way around...

_**(edited March 2008):**_ Ok so sometime between when I originally posted this and now, ff. net decided to eat the quotation marks on the first four chapters. I only found out because I was looking over some of my stories. Hopefully I've fixed the problem. I'm not sure what caused this since I didn't have the problem when I first uploaded it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

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**Chapter 4 - Tell us of the Night**

Yohji stumbled down the stairs, the crispness of the first few post midnight hours of the day lingering in the air. Being Sunday, the shop would be closed, something for which he was infinitely grateful. Even with those factors working in his favor the fact that Yohji was indoors on a night with no work the following morning could be attributed to the fact that he was concerned about his teammates. They were restless, and would most likely remain that way until the evening when Birman showed up with the replacements.

They would never be truly able to replace anybody though. Just like no one could ever replace Asuka. Dredging his thoughts from the dark train they had begun to embark upon, he found himself confronted with the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, Yohji peered inside. A ghost of a smile crossed his features as he caught sight of all the fresh vegetables within. Of course it figured that even now there would be things to constantly remind them.

If there ever was an abundance of fresh, healthy foods in the fridge, it was usually Ken's fault. Though sometimes when it had been Ken's turn to cook he would come up with something really... creative... he was actually a pretty decent cook. The only problem was, everything Ken cooked was usually outrageously healthy. Yohji supposed it was left over from having been a professional athlete. Ken also liked to put vegetables in everything. Spinach in omelets, celery in tuna sandwiches, sliced up bell peppers as snacks...

Though, if you could persuade him to, Ken made the most sinfully delicious sweets and desserts. Black Forest Cherry cakes... chocolate mousse... fruit tarts... you name it and Ken could probably make it. Though getting him to make it, and not something healthier could sometimes be a challenge.

That reminded Yohji... somewhere around here there should be some brownies Ken had made... He would have to remember to steal some later.

Finding nothing satisfactory in the fridge, Yohji settled on a cold beer and some chips. Time to watch something mindless on the TV. However, when he got to the living room he was surprised to find Aya already there.

Aya was stretched out on one end of the couch, watching some cheesy slasher flick, the plate of brownies on the coffee table. A lit cigarette rested in his fingers.

"Aya?" Yohji found this whole scene to be something quite unexpected.

Aya looked over at Yohji and then back to the TV, "There's nothing else on."

Yohji sat down at the other end of the couch, "Still you think we see enough of this on a regular basis."

"Aa."

"I didn't know you smoked," Yohji commented, lighting up one of his own.

"I don't, usually."

"And all this time I could have not been the only one getting one of Ken's lectures about how these things are going to kill me."

Aya chose not to reply to that. He just took a drag on his cigarette and turned his attention back to the movie. Truth be told, he was worried about tomorrow (which by now was today). Their team had been disrupted enough. What was Persia thinking when he decided to toss in two green members? Not only would they be new to the team they would be new to what they would be doing. Assassination. Killing.

Yohji let out a soft chuckle, "We look like girls after a bad breakup... Except instead of watching a cheesy romance movie we're watching a bad slasher movie and instead of wishing him dead we wish he wasn't. Heck, we even have the sweets."

"Aa..." He would give almost anything to have Ken back... have the team whole again... everything the way it should be. Ken you idiot... your supposed to be the one who out lives me...

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Sena fidgeted nervously in his seat. He was being reassigned again. He hadn't enjoyed information reconnaissance very much. It was pretty much all undercover work and as boring as reading the dictionary. Needless to say, he hadn't been very good at it, nor kept on the team for long. His impulsiveness had gotten in the way too many times.

He had heard that he was being reassigned with another person from an information unit - but one of the more computer and tech oriented ones. Ugh... this was starting to sound like another research and reconnaissance team. Why couldn't they reassign him to a team where he could actually do something about the information he found? It was frustrating.

"Hi," a young man with short dark hair and a friendly expression sat down in the chair next to his, "It looks like we're going to be reassigned to the same team. Your Izumi Sena right? I'm Aguri Kyo."

"Nice to meet you," Sena smiled, hoping that all his new teammates would be this friendly. "Any idea what team we're being assigned to? I hope the pay is higher," he said the last part jokingly. No one in Kritiker really worked for the money.

"Aa, the pay will be higher. I'm not supposed to know, but I accidentally found out some information about our reassignment."

That definitely got Sena's attention, "What did you find out? What team are we going to be on? Crashers?"

Kyo shook his head, "Weiss."

"Weiss?! Your kidding right? Aren't they an elite team?"

"They're the assassins of Kritiker."

"Getting those they law can't touch..."

"Aa..."

"I wonder what they're like."

"I don't know... I wonder if they're like the Crashers... I met Knight once, he seemed like a nice guy."

"Any idea what the team's code name theme is? Crashers is chess pieces right?"

"I think it's cats. My last team uncovered an organization once that got sent to Weiss. We got to see part of the report they sent after their mission. It was written by someone code named Abyssinian."

"You got to see part of their report?" Why hadn't he been able to do anything like Kyo had? Okay, so he had only worked in recon for a few months after finishing training... but still!!

"Really seeing the report was just only a way to confirm to us that our work had been worth it and that the vile organization had been dealt with... permanently."

Worry suddenly hit Sena. What if his skills weren't good enough? What would his team be like? What if Kritiker lost his stuff before it got moved to the new apartment? What if they found that thing he hid in -- His worries screeched to a halt as a beautiful dark haired woman came up to them.

"My name is Birman. I will be taking to meet your new team. Weiss."

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Kyo felt on edge as he looked at the innocent looking front of the flower shop. Maybe on edge wasn't the best way to describe it. It felt like those few seconds you have right before that first drop on a roller coaster. That pause of seconds and eternities, just long enough for you to look over the edge. You hover there unable to really stop yourself, though there is the illusion that you can.

He had to proceed. He had to know the truth about the death of his little brother. In Weiss might eventually be able to do that. In Weiss he might eventually get revenge.

Birman had explained Weiss to them, and what it meant to be Weiss. They would hardly be going into this with no idea of what they were getting themselves into. They had been given the opportunity to refuse, but both Sena and him had accepted. The one question she had refused to answer though, was who the other members were. She had simply told them that it was for them to find out on their own.

So now there they were, following Birman into the Koneko just as the sun shed it's last few rays onto the land.

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That afternoon, they had had a long discussion. How would they initiate their new members? Did they already have any traditions in place? It had been so long since anyone had been added to the team... Omi had to think about this for a bit before he remembered what had happened when Yohji and Aya joined and what Ken had told him after the resulting fights from both of those occasions.

When Aya and Yohji joined the team, though there was a reasonable amount of time between both events, almost immediately Ken managed to get in a fist fight with each of them. Well, more like slugged them with barely a warning or a reason. After the second time (his fight with Aya), Omi cornered Ken and asked him why he kept doing that. Ken tried to explain that it was his way of testing their fighting skills, without them knowing it was a test. After hearing Omi tell them this, Yohji conceded that it did make sense in a Ken sort of way. Thus, they decided that they would test the newcomers abilities... though perhaps in a slightly different manner.

Omi sighed. Why was Kritiker assigning new members so soon? It had barely been a week... And since they were dead to the world and there had been no body, they couldn't even have a funeral. The wounds were still so open... so raw. Why is it that only after a person is gone you see how deeply they affected your life? How much you took for granted... How much you miss them... How you always expected them to come though in the end, no matter how tight a situation they got in... How you never got to even say anything remotely like goodbye...

Omi was waiting by the window. Waiting for either Manx or Birman to show up with their new teammates. Aya was pretending not to be sulking down in the basement, and Yohji was stalking around occasionally checking out the window that Omi sat by.

All too soon, yet not soon enough, a car pulled up and Birman stepped out. Omi watched as she led two young men up to the shop.

"They look around your age chibi," Yohji commented, looking over Omi's shoulder.

"They look green," Aya had emerged from the basement and was looking out the window as well.

"Looks can be deceiving... Us of all people should know that," Omi said softly.

"They are too unwary," Aya refused to give an inch.

"You won't be able to call me chibi anymore Yohji."

"You'll always be the chibi, Omi. Even when your a hundred."

Omi said nothing, but instead opened the door to let Birman and their new teammates in.

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Kyo followed Birman as she led them up to a... flower shop? That had to be one of the more... unusual... covers Kritiker had thought up.

"Good evening!" A cheerful sandy haired boy about Sena's age opened the door for them. Whatever he had been expecting to see... this wasn't it. At the boy's beckoning, they came inside. Following Birman and the young man inside they found themselves in a comfortable looking room with a couch, a large TV, and a computer. Two other men were there as well. One was a tall, suave looking blond looking over his sunglasses at them and the other was a slightly shorter redhead who was looking at them with a critical eye.

Birman spoke, "Here is the tape for your next mission. I'll leave you to get acquainted on your own." She handed the tape to the boy who had greeted them, then left. This was definitely not how he had expected things to go. Here he was, knowing as much about his new teammates has he did when he left to come here save for the appearances of his teammates and that their cover was obviously that of florists. Quite frankly he was surprised they were being given a mission already. They had just met their teammates all of a minute ago and had yet to learn their names.

The sandy haired boy looked at the tape dejectedly, "agh... Birman didn't give us an information folder this time..."

"Well... first things first..." the tall blond man walked over to them, "What are your names, your blood types and do either of you know how to sew?"

"Huh?" Sena looked confused, "Sewing?"

"Well I'm not going to let you sew up any of my wounds if you don't."

"Don't doctors usually do that sort of thing?"

"We're not allowed to go to hospitals unless it's absolutely necessary," the man stated, "And the blood type isn't for a horoscope or anything. We need to know your blood types for transfusion purposes. Though we try to keep a supply of our own blood on hand."

Somehow none of this was remotely reassuring.

"Yohji!"

"Okay, okay chibi..." he held up his hands in mock surrender.

They boy smiled cheerily at them, "I'm Tsukiyono Omi, I do the mission planning and research among other things."

Introductions. He could handle that, "Aguri Kyo, I used to work on Kritiker research and hacking."

Omi's eyes lit up, "That's great! You can help me with mission research! Mostly it's finding about locations and schedules, usually Kritiker gives us more information than this." He held up the tape, giving it a sour look.

He couldn't help but chuckle, "I know. One of the organizations my team uncovered was sent to you once."

"One big happy Kritiker family eh? Well I suppose a vengeful, bitter Kritiker family is more accurate, but we can't have everything, ne? By the way I'm Kudoh Yohji." The tall blond introduced himself.

"I'm Izumi Sena!" said Sena obviously deciding it was his turn to speak up, "I worked reconnaissance a little bit..."

"That should be useful" Omi said assuringly. Omi then turned to the redhead as if telling him it was his turn. Mentally Sena reminded himself that he had to be more aware of things. He had completely forgotten the quiet man was there.

"Fujimiya Aya," the introduction was short and to the point.

"Aya's our field leader," Omi supplied.

One more thing to add to the list of the things he didn't see coming.

"So... I guess we should show you guys around and then watch the mission tape. But first, we should properly welcome you into the team," Yohji looked distinctly mischievous, "Right Aya?"

Aya just cracked his knuckles.

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I hope Sena and Kyo's personalities weren't too out of character... Next chapter will have some action! Yay! Ken will have a scene or two as well. I haven't forgotten about him!

There is a cute little button that is rather ticklish named Review. You should say hi to it.


	5. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Sorry about taking so long to get this chapter up. There were some parts that were a bit difficult to write... Lame excuse I know...(hides)

Thank you all for your lovely lovely reviews!

**stuck in a rhyme -** Oh yes, we love it when Aya cracks his knuckles XD!  
**  
shikigami-kun -** I'm glad you liked how I wrote Sena and Kyo. I agree that they didn't really develop them in Gluhen... which is what had me worried!

**schizohidaka -** Ken shows up in this chapter again, don't worry!  
**  
Horisont -** Oh don't worry if there's something I'm short on it won't be interaction  
**  
MikaSamu -** Thank you! And you suspect correctly D

**Narijima -** -blushes- Thank you for your wonderful review! I'm glad your enjoying the story 

**HeatherR -** wow... you printed it out? I feel so incredibly special... Aya cracking his knuckles is a fun image... and also incredibly scary at the same time...

**Anendee -** Well things should get less depressing in this chapter as Ken has a few scenes to remind you that he isn't dead... they just think he is.

**A/N -** HA! I did it! I got chapter 5 done! HUZZAH! This chapter was a bit hard to write in places and the order of events drove me batty. But I think it's turned out pretty well. I hope you enjoy it!

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**Chapter 5 - Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand grenades  
**

Sterile. White. No description of a hospital was more cliché, or more accurate.

"He seems to be staying stable now doctor. It's been a while since there's been any changes," The nurse looked over to the doctor who stood there looking over the unconscious young man who lay in the bed.

"That's good. Any progress on finding out who he is?"

"None. He didn't come up on the fingerprint search and he had no identification with him."

"Pity. It would be worth knowing what medicines he's allergic to so we don't end up nearly killing him again because of that."

"Yes doctor."

"The police have no clue?"

"None."

"Pity, he is the perfect vision of youth with that build and face of his..."

"Yes doctor."

"Ahh... the question remains, how long is he going to sleep?"

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Sena gingerly touched a bruise. What were they thinking just starting a fight like that? And Omi had just stood and watched the entire thing, making no move to stop it. Doesn't being on a team together require at least some degree of getting along?

They should be getting to know each other and working out how the team would work. And he had yet to aquire a clue as to what he was going to do in that flower shop. He silently prayed that the apron wouldn't be pink, even though his older sister had once told him that pink was a very manly color.

Looking up at his surroundings Sena sighed. It figured he would get the smaller of the two rooms. Kyo had lucked out and gotten the workout/practice room that had been turned into another bedroom. Sena had gotten the cubby hole that pretended to be a bedroom. In usual Kritiker fashion the rooms had been cleaned out before they arrived and several boxes of their stuff had been placed in their new rooms along with essential furniture. The sole advantage that his room had over Kyo's, was that it had been intended to be a bedroom and had easy access to the bathroom. He guessed that this had been where the previous teammate had stayed. That would explain all the funny looks he had been getting when he was in the room. They would always glance in it whenever they passed by as if half expecting to see someone else. Aya was the worst though. Sena would always get the feeling that he didn't _belong_ there whenever the field leader passed by.

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Kyo sat quietly on the floor unpacking some of his things into his room. Yohji and Omi had been friendly enough since the fight, Omi being a bit on the apologetic side, but Aya still regarded Sena and him coldly. Kyo guessed that he must have been close to whoever they were replacing but Omi had mentioned that Aya was always like this.

There was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Omi, "Kyo, we're going down to the basement to watch the mission tape."

"I'll be right down."

Omi nodded and left.

This would be his first mission as an assassin. He felt a twang of apprehension at the thought.

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Somehow you never really think of someone or something as being gone forever until it's replaced. Somewhere inside, your still waiting for it to come back to you.

Perhaps that was part of the reason it took so long for him to allow his teammates to become his family. He was afraid that doing so would replace his sister. But somewhere along the line he had realized that he wasn't replacing his sister, he was simply adding more people to those he considered family.

But to Aya this new situation was different. These new teammates were _supposed_ to be replacements. And he simply despised the idea. A person was not something you could simply replace. People who thought like that were barely a step away, if even that, from those they hunted on missions.

Speaking of missions...

The mission they had been given was as far as most of their missions go, one of the run of the mill veriety. A corrupt corporate official meddling in things that he shouldn't and causing innocent people to suffer and die as a result, and by doing so effectively signing his own death warrant as soon as it came within Kritiker's notice. The mission had gone without a hitch, excepting those caused by the replacements.

The good news was that the two worked well with each other. The bad news was that they weren't very good at listening to the rest of the team.

Sena was impulsive, and Kyo, while he didn't openly encourage this, helped Sena with his ill thought out ideas in his own quiet way. The potential for fatal errors caused by this combination made Aya's head hurt. Those two would have to work with them even if he had to knock it into them.

Following the recent Kritiker trend of not allowing much of a reprieve in between events, they had received the next mission tape the following night. This time a major mission.

Kritiker had discovered an organization of doctors and physicians gone bad. They were selling the bodies and body parts of patients who were comatose or catatonic. Those sorts of patients were unable to speak of what happened to them or be very aware of it. Therefore, the corrupt doctors could easily sell time with them as if they were whores. Or if they weren't visually appealing enough, or had outlived their purpose, their organs could be sold to the highest bidder. And their death written off as being one of those things that just happened. The organization had expanded to some of the neighboring cities as well.

As soon as the word "comatose" had come up he had worried for his sister's safety. Manx had assured him that his sister was safe as the ring did not include Magic Bus Hospital and that she was under constant surveillance. It eased his worries somewhat and he resolved to visit her everyday to check on her. Just to be safe.

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They say one of the biggest differences between animals and humans is the ability to transcend pain. He had never really been sure what that meant.

Ever since that night, the night where everything went wrong, when they began to ask him all those questions, the questions that he musn't answer... No, no, to answer would doom them! He would die before he let anything happen to them. But the pain! Everything became so muddled and he couldn't sort out what was going on and he just wanted it to stop! Everything to stop...

So he sent his mind somewhere else. Somewhere away from the constant pain that they had inflicted, away from the questions, away from himself.

Sometimes he would sort of hear things. He could hear Questions. It was often hard to sort things out but he knew that answering Questions was a Bad Thing.

So he pretended. Pretended that he was one of the deaf-mutes until he could fade back away from things. Fade far away.

Far away where the pain couldn't reach him, where he could escape the Questions. Sometimes he was vaguely aware of the area around him. This time, the walls were white and things beeped. The beeping was annoying and he wished it would stop and so he let his mind fade away.

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Yohji sat at the bar, staring at the amber colored fluid as if contemplating it. His mind however, was at the other end of the philosophical spectrum.

Rather than sit at his usual spot in any bar, that is to say the middle of things, he chose to sit at a more quiet end. It was early in the evening, and this bar was a bit quieter than some of his other haunts. It catered more towards the workers than the partygoers. It had rich wooden decor and several pool tables among dimly lit lights. An old man's bar inhabited by the young.

After a few token attempts at conversation by the bartender, said bartender turned his attention to looking for someone more amenable to conversation. Spying a recognizable face the bartender walked over to say hello.

"Shiro! It's been a while since I've seen you in the city, cousin. What brings you here?"

"Just a business conference with this branch of the rail company. Unfortunately."

"You sound overjoyed. How are things going back home?"

"Everyone's doing well. Life back there is exciting as ever, with the exception of the little mystery we've been occupying ourselves with."

The ice cubes clinked quietly as they melted in Yohji's glass. Yohji sighed, being unable to help but overhear the conversation in the quiet bar. Idly he hoped the "little mystery" wasn't anything Persia would send them off investigating.

"Little mystery?"

"Well, not long ago, I was working in the rail yard and I found a boy inside one of the box cars."

"A stow away?"

"No, the kid was a complete mess, and nearly dead."

...That sounded like the lead in to a mission. Now all they needed was a crime ring to be behind it... Why can't everyone just get along? No seriously.

"Attempted murder?"

"Perhaps, perhaps some abuse as well, the doctors found a lot of scars and healing injuries."

"That's horrible."

"The news doesn't seem to get much better either. The kid woke up right before I left on this trip. I feel kind of responsible for the kid because I found him and all, you know?"

Maybe there is some hope left for humanity.

"I know what you mean," the barkeep nodded.

"Well the kid won't respond to anyone. He doesn't seem to hear or see anything going on around him. He doesn't acknowledge a thing. It's like his mind is far away."

"Blind and deaf?"

Shiro shook his head, "You should see his eyes, sometimes you can see the person behind them sometimes you can't, and once or twice I saw him focus on an object or two. It's kind of like how a kid does when they space out in class."

"Could he be autistic? Or catatonic?"

"Too early to tell."

"It's horrible to think that someone would be so cruel to someone who couldnt even fight back at all."

Sad thing is, it happens more often than you would think.

"The worst part is, we have no idea who the kid is. He had no ID, and they havent been able to identify him from fingerprints either. If he has a family that actually cares about him they must be going nuts," Shiro sighed, "I have no idea how to even begin to search either."

"Well you found him in a box car right? He must have come from somewhere along that line..." The bartender paused, then,"Hey Kudoh! You used to be a PI right?"

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Omi looked up from where he was chopping up bok choy in the kitchen. Recognizing the foot steps, he selected an appropriate greeting, "Your back early tonight Yohji."

"What? Can't I stay in at night anymore?"

"Sure you can, but you just usually don't."

"I nearly got talked into taking up PI work again."

"Did you accept?" If Yohji had it would complicate the current mission. The mission would take a lot of surveillance and even some travel. Especially with the new members they would need everyone for the prep work.

"No. I gave them a few idea on how to search for information, but Ive accepted the mission so the mission comes first."

Omi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey! I might not seem like it, but I do have a work ethic you know!"

Omi chuckled, "I know! I know! You just don't work often enough for us to remember it."

"I resent that."

"You should have been in the shop this evening Yohji, a lady wants us to order a _Rhus diversiloba_."

_"Rhus diversiloba_? Isn't that..."

"Poison oak, poison ivy's twin."

"Delivery?"

Omi nodded, "I feel sorry for who ever made her angry. But fortunately, we don't carry poison oak."

" 'Hell hath no fury like like that of a woman's scorn,' " Yohji quoted, "Which is why I do my best to make all the ladies happy."

Omi groaned, "Can't we ever have a conversation without you bringing up your love life?"

"Hey guys! I found this game down in the basement, any of you want to play?" Sena came into the kitchen carrying a faded Monopoly box.

Omi bit back a groan. He though he'd hidden that game better. Sena looked hopeful, as if he thought this game might help them all get along better. Darnnit, now he knew how the others felt when he used puppy eyes on them.

"Of course we'll play! Go ask Aya as well, he'll actually play this board game," Yohji answered, "Oh! and I call the horse and rider!"

Not to be stuck with the shoe, Omi decided to claim a piece as well, "I call the dog!"

Sena grinned hopefully.

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**A/N -  
**  
Whew! This chapter was longer than I planned it to be. I hope that makes up a little for the long wait since the last chapter. As for near misses in getting all of Weiss back together... umm don't kill me?

Next chapter will include some of the information gathering and investigation. Yay! Feel free to hate the evil doctors. Doctors can be scary scary people if they abuse their power. The docs in this story were inspired by the movie Coma and the hospital scene in Kill Bill. Go watch Coma. It's a bit disturbing.

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Alone and neglected were the only two words that could describe the state of mind it was in right now. Everyone who passed by saw it differently. Depending on the system the computer that people saw it though people were shown it differently. And people made judgements dependant upon these potrayals. Why was the world such a shallow place? Why would nobody talk to it?

The Review Button sat and cried.


	6. Nightmare Studio

**A/N -** And so the story continues... Poor Yohji keeps getting yelled at in the reviews... Don't worry Yohji, we still love you.

**shikigami-kun -** Yes, we wall love long chapters when we're not the writer! I'll try to squeeze some more long chapters in in the future, but I just tend to write until a chapter seems done.

**Horizont -** The review button loves you!

**HeatherR -** Yay! You picked up on the beginning part! Fondling monopoly pieces? lol! If Aya did he didn't tell me about it, but then again he wouldn't.

**Narijima -** I know there must be some name for that too... I just call them 'near misses.' I hope you like the next chapter!

**Bine -** Here's the next chapter for your enjoyment!

**Anendee -** Thank you so much! I'm glad your enjoying it! Yes it was Monopoly, a game it seems like Aya would be very scary at.

**Susan -** Thank you! Here's the next chapter for you!

**PLEASE READ-** As far as the ages of the boys go, Sena is the age he was in Gluhen, despite that being a few years from now in the time line. As far as the ages go for the others I'm going with the younger end of the range their ages were given as. Why? because I felt like it. Also because this is closer to the beginning of the series in my vague timeline. So, Sena is 16, Omi is 17, Ken is 18, Aya is 20 and Yohji is 21. Kyo was never given an approximate age so I am randomly assigning him the age of 18. 

On a more irritating note... For some reason my formatting got all messed up even though I save my chapters in html. If you find spare parts of things like running around it's because I didn't catch all of them in QuickEdit. I apologize if this messes up the flow of the story.

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**Warnings: **Insanity, implied violence and abuse. Medical BS, though I'll try to keep it somewhat accurate, but I'm far from being an expert. There is the possibility of the rating going up in the next few chapters.

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**Chapter 6 - Nightmare Studio**

There was only one explanation for this. Only one. Aya was inhuman. There was no way someone could win a Monopoly game in under three hours. Especially not with so many of them playing. Sena concluded that it must have been some freak occurrence.

It had been a given that the two data analysts, Omi and Kyo, would be pretty good at the game. Yohji and Sena had been pretty average, though Yohji was not playing seriously at all. But Aya, Aya was frighteningly good at manipulating money. Neither Omi nor Yohji had seemed surprised in the slightest by how the game went. Yohji said that Aya had an unfair advantage because he handles the finances for the Koneko.

Speaking of the Koneko...

Unfortunately for the fans of the Koneko boys it had only been Momo who had been running the shop alone lately. But today that would change. Momo was still in the shop as per late, but today all the current members of Weiss were there as well.

Sena and Kyo, not having mastered the fine art of floral arrangement in the slightest, were spared from the thorn pricks and other hazards involved with that. Unfortunately, they were stuck doing other tasks such as being register monkey, and moving heavy pots. The work itself Sena didn't find so bad... it was the customers.

There was just a trickle at first then...

"Everyone is here today!"

"WAI! There's two new boys today!"

"They're cute!"

"I didn't know the Koneko was hiring! I want to work here too!"

"I wonder if Ken is ever going to move back here, I miss seeing him!"

"These flowers are cute! Make them into a bouquet for me!"

"Can you deliver these to my house for me tomorrow? I'll make tea!"

"You're new aren't you? What's your name? What kind of girls do you like?"

It got more and more crowded, and more and more questions came... How could anyone stand to work here! Sena liked to think of himself as a people person but this was overwhelming! Just when Sena thought he couldn't stand anymore...

"If your not buying anything... get out!" Aya's calm voice cut though the din. Sena could have hugged Aya at that moment, even though Aya would have killed him if he did.

"Aww!" The girls chorused. They busied themselves with the flowers for a minute or two before they were back to their usual antics. Even though the desired effect had not been achieved, the brief break was very welcome. It was a few hours later before the rush died down.

"So how did you like the customers?" Yohji sauntered over looking very amused.

"Is it always like this?" Kyo looked tired.

"Most of the time," Omi chirped.

"Well it's good that the shop makes so much business..." Sena tried to find a silver lining to the mob of girls who had just been in the store.

"Not really, most of the girls just come to socialize," Omi dashed that thought before it could fully establish itself, "Most of the time we're almost in the red."

"Did the girls assign you a flower yet?" Yohji asked out of the blue.

"Huh? Assign us a flower?"

"The girls have assigned us all flowers that represent us," Omi explained, "I'm a freesia, Yohji's a cattleya, Aya's a rose, and Ken's a gentian."

"Ken?"

"He... was our teammate," Yohji said softly. Aya found something to busy himself with.

"...I guess I'm just not used to him really being gone," Omi looked away.

"..What happened to him?" Kyo asked gently.

"Mission... He didn't make it."

Sena felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him. Though he had been on one mission already, and had seen death in all it's bloody glory, until now it hadn't struck him that his teammates might die. He might. Kyo might. But them, they had been doing this how long? They had seemed nearly invincible on missions. Quick, deadly, efficient. He had been very grateful they were on his side.

"The girls said Kyo was a yamabuki. Sena is a pansy," Aya spoke, breaking up the gloomy atmosphere. Yohji and Omi looked briefly surprised by the effort at conversation on Aya's part.

Yohji nearly chuckled, "A _pansy_?"

Sena&'s cheeks grew hot, "I'm not a pansy!"

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"Red light."

...tap tap tap...

"Green light."

"Red light."

...tap tap tap...

"Green light."

"We're in," Omi looked up from his computer next to Kyo's, where they had been hacking into the computer mainframe that might contain the information they needed. Omi had to admit, Kyo's computer skills were rather impressive.

...tap tap tap...

"Here's a list of possible hospitals and asylums. We'll need to get inside and take a look around before we'll know for sure. We need to get the schedules of the people in charge. Unfortunately their computers aren't connected to the outside world. They're still using fax machines for data transfer."

"Here's the three main candidates from the list. We'll investigate them first. One is in the city, one of the other two is in the neighboring city and the other is in a small town. For the one in the city, we can use the excuse of delivering flowers to get in, good thing it's a hospital and for the most part you can move freely in it."

"So there is logic to the cover after all."

"It can come in handy sometimes."

"What will be our excuse for visiting the two asylums?"

"Your checking it out because a relative of yours thinks he&'s a parking meter."

"A parking meter?"

"If you can think up something better, go for it," Omi just shrugged, "We'll have to decide who's investigating which location with the others later. Yohji will probably take the flower delivery by himself though. He's pretty good at getting information out of nurses. When he remembers to focus on the mission that is. Aya can take one of the asylums, he's got the most experience dealing with medical beauracracies."

"Sena and I can check out the other asylum."

Omi looked at Kyo evenly, unsure if it was wise to send the two new members off on their own. Then again the two did have previous experience at information gathering. Sooner or later the two would end up working without the others being close by, and it may as well be a scouting rather than an assassination at this point. "All right."

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He didn't have any idea how much time had passed. Wasn't time relative anyway? Death could take seconds or hours depending upon your perspective. It could take a lifetime for the warm caress of fire lick against your body or it could be the lightning quick bee sting of a bullet. What was he thinking about again?

Oh right, time.

Time is undeniably the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all it's students. Death. Death was anti social. When was he going to die? Probably when he wasn't expecting it and even then it would probably be the last thing he did.

He clenched his fist. Where were his bugnucks? He felt... declawed...

Should he be fighting? Someone else was here right? The beeping was gone... He could smell the outdoors. He missed going outside. How long had he been inside? Time again. Time was a relative. A relative to who though? Death? That must be some family reunion when they got together... Did Death even do anything for the holidays?

Something Bad was happening he was sure of it. Should he fight? Things were so disconnected he didn't know what was happening. But he didn't like it. Someone was there and doing something. Where was he? Was he dead yet?

He suddenly didn't want to be declawed anymore. Whoever was there they were a Bad Person. He was sure of it. Should he kill them? Should their death be fatal?

He wanted to hurt them.

Slowly he became vaguely aware of where he was, it was a small white room that not only had a somewhat squishy cot on which he lay but it also had white walls which looked almost...squishy...like they were made of marshmallows or something. There was some else there too. Someone too close to him. Someone Bad.

He lashed out with a fist.

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Aya walked down the whitewashed hallway, his eyes searching for any detail, any clue, that would lead him to his target. Like a cat watching a bird feeder, his attention was unwavering. Meanwhile Omi chatted up a storm with the nurse who was showing them around. His nimble social skills proving their worth.

Aya tried to tune out most of the cries and moans of the patients. He had originally tried to listen for cries of pain, but there were too many screams and shouts of all sorts to really distinguish a real cry that may be a clue to their target, from a cry in reaction to some imaginary source.

The entered a large community room where many patients milled about. Some just stood there in odd positions, while others shuffled about aimlessly. A few sat around playing cards. One patient was quietly gathering up light bulbs into a pile. The ages varied from older teenagers to the old.

To Aya the whole atmosphere seemed off. He couldn't place his finger on it but something just seemed... wrong... He wasn't sure if it was because it was an insane asylum, or there was something really going on here.

"Where do you keep the catatonics?" He asked, pulling his attention away from the disturbing surroundings.

"I thought your relative was under the impression that he was Gehngis Khan?"

"We would like to see as much of the facility as possible to get the best feel for how this facility cares for it's patients."

They were interrupted by the screams of a patient being dragged down the hallway by two huge orderlies, "NOOOOO! NOOO! I DON'T WANT TO GO! HELP ME! SOMEBODY!" The screaming patient was dragged into a room marked 'Electroshock Therapy.'

The nurse noted the shocked expression and widened eyes on Omi, "Come on, I'll show you." She turned to Omi, "Don't worry dear, we work hard to make all our patients better."

"By electrocuting them!"

"It may seem harsh, but we've had great results in reducing violent impulses in patients."

"By making them too afraid to disobey..." Omi muttered.

"Here is where we keep our catatonics," The nurse swung open a door. Inside was a dark windowless room filled with cots and a few patients sitting about staring at nothing. The room held nothing else,"We have individual rooms as well, that keep a few, but this is where the majority are."

"They just sit there like that?" Omi played up the innocent child act.

"Of course sweetie, that's what catatonics do. Occasionally they move about, but not very often. Usually you just find them in a different part of the room. They can become violent if continuously bothered, which is why we keep them separate from the other patients."

"So ones with the potential to be violent are kept separate?" Aya looked over the sad little room.

"Correct."

"I see..."

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Sena shifted in his seat in the office at the asylum where they had been assigned to visit. They had already had the tour of the place and were hoping for an opportunity to arise where they could get a moment on the computer. Kyo had been busy asking questions about the place, to try and keep a reason for them to be in the office. Though the patients of the place had been doing a wonderful job at causing mayhem, unfortunately it wasn't enough to draw the lady director out of the office. Sena, no longer able to think of any questions busied himself with contemplating the potted plants.

As far as Sena was concerned they could just sneak into the asylum after dark. The place profoundly unnerved him and he would give anything to get out of it. He was about ready to say something to Kyo when a nurse entered, pulling along a teenaged patient.

"Nurse Ratchet, you better have a good reason for just bursting in here."

"This boy... he started to fight! The clie-" the nurse caught sight of the two of them, "the visitor was hurt!"

The director turned to the two of them, "Excuse me, I have an emergency to tend to."

The director hastily left the office, followed by the frantic nurse, leaving the two members of Weiss and the mental patient alone in the office.

"Here's our chance!" Kyo hastily went over to the computer and began typing, "Sena you keep an eye out for anyone."

Sena looked over at the patient that gave them their break. He wasn't much taller than him, probably only a year or two older. He had this spaced out, vacant look in his blue-green eyes. The same look they had seen in the catatonics.

Sena sighed, "I can't wait to get out of here and back to the Koneko."

The patient looked over in their direction, then slowly walked over to the potted plants on the desk. Sena and Kyo watched him warily.

Kyo turned back to the computer, "Found the info... just need to copy it..."

The patient picked up an empty envelope from a stack on the desk and wrote something on it. Carefully plucking a few blossoms from the potted flowers, he put them in the envelope, before holding the envelope out to Kyo.

"Uh... thanks?" Kyo took the envelope, confused. The computer beeped, finished with it's task. Snatching up his disk, he turned to Sena, "Let's get out of here."

Giving their regrets to the desk clerk, the hastily left the asylum to begin their drive back to the Koneko.

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**A/N -** Another longer chapter... This seems to be becoming a trend... The pace should really pick up in the next chapter. In case you were wondering, the flowers in the envelope will be explained... somewhat...

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The review button thanks you all for the love and attention! But wouln't mind if you dropped in to say hi this chapter as well.


	7. Decapitated Flowers

A/N- Sorry about all the random numbers and such in the last few chapters. I don't know what went wrong with the formatting. Chapter 6 is fixed and I'm working on making chapter 5 which for some reason also decided to have numbers insert themselves be up and happy too.

For all of you who braved the horrible formatting and read it. Thank you. It really means a lot to me that you did that.

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Chapter 7 - Decapitated Flowers

The three original Weiss members lounged around the basement waiting for Sena and Kyo to return. Omi was sifting through the information they had pulled from the asylum that he and Aya visited. They had been fortunate enough to be able to sneak into the office while it was empty.

Aya leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He had just finished hearing Yohji's report on the hospital, and found it deeply unnerving.

By sneaking carbon monoxide into the patient's air line during operations, the patient can be forced into a coma. The patient then becomes ripe for organ harvesting. The coma can be written off as a risk of operation and the later death as just one of those things that happens. The ones selected to be forced into comas were always young and of good over all health and only in for minor operations. Those without much of a family were also high on the target list. It was amazing Kritiker had managed to pick up on the scheme.

It made him sick.

"We're back!" Sena's voice rang out upstairs. Now the real analysis could get started. Sena came downstairs followed by Kyo who held a computer disk. Sena fiddled with a thick envelope.

"Here's the information, hopefully we can make a plan of attack out of this," Kyo gave the disk to Omi.

"We should, I've been able to find parts of the upper chain of command in the information we retrieved. Yohji uncovered some good information as well."

"I wouldn't call it good. Informative, yes. Disturbing, no doubt about it," Yohji spoke up from his place on the couch, "What do you have there Sena? A love letter?"

"What! No, this is just something one of the inmates at the asylum gave us. It doesn't really make much sense though..." Sena handed the envelope to Yohji.

Aya walked over to the couch so he could se as well. Omi glanced over, but decided to keep working on the computer. Kyo began to work on his computer beside Omi's as well.

Yohji examined the envelope, on the front of it were inscribed the words:_ Rose, Cattleya& Freesia._

"Those are our flowers..."

"What is it?" Omi looked over from the computer.

"Someone wrote down our signature flowers on the front of the envelope," Yohji looked over at Kyo and Sena, "Did either of you mention the Koneko while you were there?"

"Umm just once... but the only other person there was catatonic," Sena explained, "He was the one who wrote that."

Sena shrank back, finding himself pinned under Aya's glare.

"Who was he?"

"We were never told his name," Sena found his irritation beginning to rise, "He was a catatonic! How was I supposed to know he would hear! Much less know anything about it!"

"Perhaps he'd been here before he went crazy?" Kyo suggested, trying to get the focus off of Sena.

"But if he had, he wouldn't have known Ken was gone. He didn't write gentian, and he didn't write your flowers either."

"I thought only girls were into the signature flower thing."

"You'd be surprised."

"This may be a bit off topic now, but what's in the envelope?" Omi broke off the tangent.

"That's the part that doesn't make sense," Kyo added helpfully.

Yohji opened up the envelope and pulled out a few flower blossoms, "Let's see... we have a begonia and a monkshood..."

"Beware, a deadly foe is near," Aya translated.

"Huh?"

"That's what the flowers mean. Do you remember what the inmate looked like?"

"A bit taller than Sena, brown hair, had a tan, looked about my age," Kyo looked over at Aya, wondering what he was up to.

"I think you described a fair portion of the population," Yohji looked less than impressed with the vague description.

"Well he's been here enough to know our flowers, and to know Ken's gone but he doesn't know Sena or Kyo's flowers yet," Omi looked thoughtful, "That makes a rather narrow time frame for his last visit. Though the big question is, why did he send us this message?"

"If he was even trying to send us a message," Kyo looked skeptical, "He is in an insane asylum you know."

Aya's brow twitched in annoyance. This was starting to get on his nerves. There was one way to find out for sure what the inmate was up to. "I'm going to take a look at the asylum."

"Huh?"

Aya turned and walked up the stairs.

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The lady director looked at the young catatonic in front of her, "You've caused quite some trouble for me. I hope you are aware that killing a client is quite... improper."

She strolled out from behind the desk to stand in front of the boy, "There are ways to deal with a violent young buck like you. Both legal and illegal. Drugs are to costly to upkeep, but there are things such as a lobotomy... or castration. You would make quite the adorable eunuch."

She lifted his chin so his gaze rested on her, "Tomorrow we will decide your fate."

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**A/N-**And here we go off into the realm of sneaky tactics. Well Aya's going for the direct approach. Finding the inmate and asking, that is. Unfortunetly he doesn't know what he might find.

Say hi to the lonely little Review button on the way out. 


	8. Tin Can Communications

**A/N-**

Wow... I thought the possibility of a lobotomy would scare people more but I guess I was wrong... Actually it was all because I thought death threats were getting a little old -grin-

stuck in a rhyme- Ken would still be male, he would just have his spark plugs removed! Like a gelding horse! Don't worry, Aya won't let them hurt Ken if he can help it.

gonyos- I'll pass along the encouragement to Aya!

San- If things keep staying messed up I think I'm gonna scream. Hopefully it's fixed now. I'm glad you like the plot!

Anendee- I'm glad you liked the note! Yes the flowers really do mean that. I went and looked the meanings up on the internet. It's hard to find the flowers that mean negative things. Most of them are about romance and friendship.

shikigami-kun - I don't like cliffhangers. I despise them. Which is why I try to quickly post again after I do one. I'm so glad my bribe worked -grin- But you know, you left another cliffhanger:P

Narijima- The Review button wants to let you know that it hopes you have a very lovely day. I'm glad you liked the chapter! I hope you like this next one as well!

MikaSamu- I hope you like this next chapter!

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**Chapter 8 - Tin Can Communications**

Aya found himself slowly coming back to consciousness. Not that it really made much of a difference. He found himself in a pitch black room. Well he assumed it was a room anyway. It was so dark he literally could not see his hand in front of his face. He could feel padding on the walls from where he sat propped up against it. The floor however was bare. The iciness of the cold concrete floor and air indicated that the room wasn't heated. The lump on the back of his head indicated how he had ended up here.

Slowly he drew up his memories from when he arrived at the asylum to when he woke up, carefully paying attention to details.

He had told the receptionist he was here to do research for a college project, and merely wished to to take a look around and observe. Too many people using the same cover would cause suspicion. They had allowed him to look around, and a nurse gave him a quick tour. The main difference he found between this hospital and the other one, was that this mental hospital had more individual rooms.

It had been both a good and bad thing that the client, a man in a rumpled business suit, had left that room at the same time that Aya had passed by. It had been good in the sense that it confirmed many suspicions, but bad in the sense that a nurse had seen it, paniked and and clubbed him over the back of the head. Judging from the size of his headache, that nurse, had one mean swing. And so he had ended up in this sensory depravation chamber. It was impossible to tell how long he had been out, and that bothered him.

There was a slight shift nearby, alerting him to the fact that he wasn't alone in the room.

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Omi wasn't too worried about Aya. He trusted Aya to think up a good cover for going to the asylum, and not to do anything rash. Aya always took missions seriously. He wasn't too surprised when Aya wasn't there in the morning. The asylum was several hours away and he had left rather late in the day, so he had probably just found a hotel to stay over night and would be driving back in the morning.

However, when it rolled around to ten and Aya hadn't called, then Omi began to worry.

"Hey, has anyone seen Sena?" Kyo came downstairs, "We were supposed to spar this morning."

Omi shook his head, "I haven't seen him since last night."

An uneasy feeling settled in Omi's stomach.

"Yo," Yohji greeted them as he entered the kitchen.

"Yohji, have you seen Sena?"

"Last I saw, he followed Aya," Yohji said conversationally, "Don't worry, Aya can take care of him. Of course that will be after he yells at Sena for tagging along."

"Why did you let him go!" Omi was really starting to worry now.

"I tried. The kid just ran of and hopped on his bike before I could do anything."

"When are Aya and Sena supposed to be getting back?" Kyo asked.

"That's the thing, Aya never called." Omi stated flatly, letting himself fall into the role of mission planner.

"They're in trouble," Yohji's tone went serious as well.

"What are we going to do now?" Kyo's tone was worried and unsure.

"Find out what went wrong. Something must have happened we didn't account for. We find out what that is, then carry out our mission. The crime ring is having a meeting at that asylum tonight. It's isolated but will still have added security."

"Wait, aren't we going to rescue Aya and Sena?"

"If we find them, but our priority is to the mission." It hurt to say it. It was too much like last time.

"What!"

"The mission comes first," Yohji's voice sounded tired, "To Kritiker, we are all expendable."

"You would give your teammates -your _friends_- to the enemy for the sake of a _mission_!" Kyo was appalled, "No wonder Ken died."

That was a low blow.

"Ken knew what he was doing. He knew he wouldn't come back," Yohji kept his voice calm, "Don't let your teammate's sacrifices be in vain. Save your anger for the targets."

Kyo grit his teeth and looked away.

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Sena tried to rub the weariness out of his eyes. He had spent all night trying to find Aya. He had arrived at the asylum just in time to catch the scene of Aya getting knocked out through the window. He has snuck in and attempted to find out where the took Aya, but to no avail. But Sena was never one to give up. When he became weary, he had continued his search in the air vents and crawl space. He had considered calling the rest of the team, but decided against it at the time.

Though now that morning had rolled around, he was beginning to reconsider his decision. But what could the others do that he hadn't already tried? And with the amount of the building he had managed to search last night there wasn't much left to search. By the time they got here he would have finished searching the building and found Aya.

Sena bit his lip. Kyo was probably worried about him. He i should /i call. If only to alleviate worry. The thing was... could he afford the time it would take to call and fill the others in?

He could do it on the move. He pulled out his cell phone and prayed that he would get reception.

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"Who's there?" Aya looked in the direction of the slight noise that had given away the other occupant. His eyes strained against the darkness.

There was no reply.

Aya considered this. The other person could be unconscious, hurt, afraid, or completely unaware of their surroundings. That was a lot of possibilities.

He carefully made his way over to where the noise had come from. He touched the person lightly, "Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Oy," he have them a light shake.

The other person stirred slightly. Aya nearly sighed in relief. The lack of response had been starting to unnerve him. Perhaps this person might know some information that could be of some use to him. Perhaps give him some idea on where they were or at least where the door to this dark pit was...

Aya felt his nose get poked. He blinked in surprise for a minute and then chalked it up to a result of the darkness. Encouraged by the response to his presence he decided to try asking a few questions.

"Do you know where we are?"

No reply.

This was starting to get old. Real fast. After a few more unsuccessful attempts, Aya's frustration was starting to get the better of him. But getting angry at a mental patient was hardly going to get him anywhere. He decided to give up questioning for now.

Time passed. The engulfing darkness blocked all sense of time, five minutes was impossible to tell from five hours. The silence was deafening. Aya had always been fond of peace and quiet, but until now he had never realized how much natural noise there was all the time. It's absence was unnatural and unnerving.

In desperation, Aya began to softly recite flower arrangements, meanings, anything he could come up with, to break the silence, even a little. "White rosebud, heart ignorant of love. Tiger lily, wealth and prosperity..."

"Begonia."

Aya froze in shock. That voice...

"Beware," a pause, "Monkshood... an enemy is near."

"...Ken?"

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A/N- Sorry about the awful cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers as much as you do. Really. The next chapter will be up soon!

Preview of the next chapter as written by the Review Button:

Chapter 9... in which Aya has one sided conversations, Sena tries to figure out strategies, and Omi is frustrated.


	9. As It Cools, It Will Thicken

**A/N -** Well this chapter turned out differently than I expected. And as such it'll be longer than it originally was going to but, I'm not complaining -grin-

Gaeriel- Cliffhangers are evil aren't they? I try to avoid them but sometimes they sneak up on me.

San - Well there's been a bit more action, so things seem to go faster. Go easy on Aya, he got knocked out by a nurse last chapter.

Anendee - Sena seems to have that effect on people it seems. I hope this chapter has come quickly enough to make the cliffhanger less horrible!

MikaSamu - I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I do my best to avoid cliffhangers, really I do!

Shikigami-kun - Your cliffhangers are rubbing off on me! There's a lot more running around in the dark (literally) in this chapter. As for what's going to happen to Ken... just wait and see!

HeatherR - I'm glad you liked it! Aya's not gonna let Ken get an arm's reach away from him if he can help it. I hope you like this chapter!

Narijima - I'm glad you liked the chapter! Sena is rather impulsive isn't he? The rest of the Weiss boys (with the exception of Kyo) seem to think so too. They're going to to their best to keep him in check, don't worry.

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**Chapter 9 - As It Cools, It Will Thicken**

Omi was pissed. Silently Yohji was glad he wasn't the one on the receiving end of that anger. Sena had finally called and this time even Kyo had to admit that Sena had been less than brilliant. Once again they found their plans changing. Sena had been able to give them detailed descriptions on what was going on inside and other useful information. That seemed to be the only up side to this monkey wrench in the situation. Omi put Sena under strict orders to let them know of any new developments.

"Your current task is to keep surveying the interior, keep a lookout for Aya, but your main task is to let us know when the big wigs arrive. They should be there at six. We'll have both your and Aya's weapons with us as well. Remember, call if there is any situation change. See you at five." Omi hung up.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him," Kyo said evenly, referring to Omi's initial chewing out.

"When will you two get a clue!" Omi burst out, "You can't do things like this during a mission! You'll only endanger the mission, endanger the team, and yourself!"

"Oy, Chibi, I think we all know Sena did something stupider than usual this time, but save the screaming for when he's around to hear it," Yohji took it upon himself to be the calm one seeing as Aya and his glare were not present.

It was getting tiring though, ever since Sena and Kyo joined the group there had been an invisible division in the team. Not to say they didn't get along with their teammates on a social level - it was missions that were the problem. Oddly enough, last time someone joined the team, it had been the other way around.

Yohji watched Omi stride over to the computer to make adjustments to the mission plan. It would take a while for Omi to become sociable again. Yohji motioned for Kyo to follow him and then began to climb up the stairs. He wanted not only to keep Kyo away from Omi to prevent another argument, but to have a word with him as well.

He led them up to the roof. It was a beautiful Sunday and the streets below reflected the serene mid morning atmosphere. Yohji fished in his pocket for a cigarette. Finding one, he stuck it between his lips but didn't bother to light it.

"You and Sena are close," he observed.

Kyo seemed surprised by the comment. He leaned against the railing, " I guess so. Since we're both new to the team, we've both felt like outsiders. He reminds me of my little brother actually. You three seem so tight knit there doesn't seem to be much room for us."

Yohji looked out across the street, "Aya, Omi... I've been working with them for a long time now. I guess you could say the closeness comes from fighting and killing together," he chuckled a bit, " It took a long time before we ever really got along on a social level. Even then it was minimal."

"Aya isn't the most friendly person is he?"

"There's the understatement of the century. He can be down right antisocial at times. But, he cares about the team, even though he'll never admit it. At times, I think he glares more out of habit than anything else," Yohji looked over at Kyo, "It bothers everyone though, that you and Sena don't follow the mission plans."

Kyo grew quiet, "Sena has reasons for what he does."

"Kritiker sends only as many of us as is needed for a job. There is a reason there is as many of us as there are. Working as a team increases both the success rate and the survival rate. We need to work as a team. If we don't one or more of us will end up dead. We have the odds against us enough as it is already. We don't need to make them worse."

"You're afraid we'll end up like Ken."

Yohji gave Kyo a warning look, "That was different."

"That's what you keep saying. But, something about that keeps bothering you. I can see it."

Yohji was suddenly reminded of why he hated conversations like these. They had an awful tendency to go in directions he didn't like.

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Kyo walked back into the living room thoughtfully. It had taken some work but he had managed to get the story if what happened to Ken out of Yohji. Now he felt like he understood them a bit better. Omi was afraid of something unexpected throwing the mission plan off and forcing them to improvise again. That was why he was obsessing over the mission plan. That was why Yohji didn't want them disregarding the plan. Aya was captured and Yohji and Omi were afraid it was happening again.

Kyo's eyes fell on a picture tucked away on a side table that had fallen over onto it's face. Curiously, he picked it up.

It was an amusing picture of four people, quite obviously set up by one of the girls who seemed to populate the shop. Yohji was holding some veriety of pink orchid with one of it's petals in his mouth and in full 'lady killer' mode. Omi was giving the camera a sunny smile and holding a flower that Kyo identified as a freesia. That would make the pink orchid a cattleya. They must be holding the flowers the girls assigned them. Aya was reluctantly holding a white rosebud and looking off to the side. A young man with short brown hair was giving the camera a sideways glance and almost seemed to be trying to hide behind the blueish purple flower he held.

He must be Ken. Kyo thought he looked a lot like that inmate they saw at the asylum who gave them the envelope. Then again, Ken didn't really stand out in a crowd, whereas you could spot Aya a mile away.

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Hope swelled within Aya like a wave, "Ken is that really you?"

As before, there was no reply.

Still, Aya was sure that that had been Ken's voice he had heard. There had been no mistake. There couldn't have been. He had been in enough arguments with Ken to know his voice well.

"Ken! It's me, Aya!" he shook Ken lightly, "Siberian! Respond!"

Ken drew himself up into a ball.

Aya grew worried. What had they done to him? Ken had rarely been quiet, but right now a pet rock seemed more responsive.

Ken had responded to Aya's flower recitations before, so Aya decided to try something along those lines again. He began to talk, about the flower shop. The topic was of no danger should their captors overheard it as he did not mention the name of the shop or any specifics. He talked about business, customers, how they had finally killed that rat in the green house, even though it took his katana to do it. Anything he could think of.

It felt like talking to Aya-chan.

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His mind was muddled, making it difficult to register anything around him. He had heard a familiar voice softly reciting flowers. Flowers... The Koneko... He wondered if they had gotten his message. This was a Bad Place, they needed to be careful.

He hadn't realized he had said something until Questions started flying full force. No! He wouldn't say anything! He drew himself into a ball.

But this time the voice sounded... familiar... It sounded like Aya... but that couldn't be. It must be some trick. Loneliness gnawed at him but he knew his teammates couldn't be here. They were free, and that was what was important.

Aya wasn't really there, it was this place getting to him. Regardless, he let the sound of the voice soothe him, and for a moment, and let himself believe he wasn't alone.

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Sena doggedly worked his way through the narrow air vent. Idly he hoped there would be a crawl space he could use soon, these vents were starting to get to him. Catching sight of some light glittering through a grating, his mood lifted a bit. Maybe he was finally getting somewhere. He crawled to the grating as quickly as stealth would allow.

Leaning over the grating, he saw a man speaking to the lady director.

"You've been sloppy lately," the man said to the director.

"The boy you brought me is rather violent, Shiro," the lady director replied.

"So he is?" Shiro brightened up a bit, "This works out wonderfully for my plans. Now I just need to get the boy more responsive... He didn't cause you too much trouble did he?"

The director huffed, "He only killed one of my clients. I managed to cover it up though."

"That's good... We wouldn't want your clients to be scared off by it now would we?"

"About the boy..."

"Couldn't find a trace of who he is. He doesn't match any of the descriptions of recent missing persons either. Wherever he came from, no one is looking for him," Shiro smiled, "Which of course makes him perfect for my purposes."

"Your thinking about making him part of your little organization aren't you?"

"But of course. With a little work he could make a lovely assassin."

The director frowned.

"Oh... I see... you were hoping you could have him weren't you? Sorry, but you can't have him. And you better have left him with all his body parts. I don't need another person with a lobotomy."

"Don't worry, I didn't modify him. I gave him a few drugs to mellow him out. He's in a sensory deprivation chamber right now. Him and a boy who saw something he shouldn't have."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

"Not really. They can't really communicate or see anything, much less find the door."

"Kritiker has caught wind of your little operations here you know."

"What!"

Sena's jaw dropped.

"They've probably started nosing around. Had any visitors with shady reasons for visiting lately?"

Sena was torn. He must warn the others but he didn't want to miss any more information that could be valuable.

"...they've been here already... The boy we caught might be one of them."

"I'd be careful if I were you..." Shiro said in a singsong voice.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" the director said irritably.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Shiro straightened up and rubbed his hands together in anticipation, "Now let's go see these two you have in the good 'ole dark hole. If your lucky I might just take both of them off your hands tonight"

"All in good time," the director said casually, "There's something else I want to show you first."

The lady director led Shiro out of the office. Sena wasted no time contacting Omi.

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Aya sighed. He had been talking for a while now, and there had been no change in Ken. Still it was somewhat comforting to know that he wasn't alone in this inky prison. Thought doubt had begun to eat away at him. Had he really heard Ken speak? Or had it just been a product of his desperate imagination?

No. He had heard it.

If it hadn't been so quiet, he would have missed the soft shuffling noises coming from above him. As it were they were easy to miss. Keeping one hand on Ken so he wouldn't loose him in the darkness, he moved into a crouch, readying himself for whatever might happen next.

First came the sharp impact of something metal hitting the concrete floor. It was followed almost immediately by the unmistakable thud of a person.

"Oww..." there was a short pause then, "Oh geez... now where am I?"

"Sena?" Aya blinked at the darkness.

"Aya!" relief was apparent in Sena's bright voice, "Finally! I've been searching for you since last night!"

Aya got the feeling that there was something long and complicated behind that statement. He settled for a simple question, "Where is everyone else?"

"They'll be here soon, and they'll have our weapons too."

"...your unarmed?" though his tone didn't convey it. Aya felt like banging his head against a wall.

"Well you see... er..."

"Save it. Our priority is to get the three of us out of here."

"Three?"

"Ken's here too."

"Eh?"

"He was in here when I woke up. He might be hurt, he's not responding."

"Aya... Are you feeling okay?"

Great... now Sena thinks he's imagining things...

"I'm fine." Time to change the topic. There's no time for this. "Can we get out the same way you got in?"

"We should be able to. I've been crawling around in the ceiling all day and no one's figured it out yet." He heard Sena shuffle over to him. Sena reached out and touched his shoulder confirming his presence. "Oh my gosh! There is another person in here!"

Apparently he found Ken too. Aya resisted the childish urge to say 'I told you so.'

"Is he conscious?" Sena shook Ken gently.

"I don't know. We need to get him somewhere where we can see him," Aya tried to think of away that he could get Ken out of here as well.

"We could try dragging him through the vent. But we could injure him further that way."

"We can't leave him here." There was no way he was going to leave Ken behind. Not this time.

"Well let's give it a try shall we?"

After a few tries, and with some help from Aya, Sena managed to find the vent again. He climbed up into the vent and turned around to prepare to pull Ken up.

It was at that moment the door opened.

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**A/N -** I know, I know another cliffhanger... A really awful one too. I'm sorry! But I seriously couldn't find anywhere else to end the chapter. I thought about ending it earlier but the chapter didn't want me to. If it makes you feel better chapter 10 is already in the works and I've got some pages done already!

In case you can't remember who Shiro is (I don't blame you if you can't, he's been a minor character until now), he showed up at the end of chapter 2 and in chapter 5 at the bar. In short he was the one who found Ken in the boxcar and was talking about him to the bartender.

Preview of the next chapter courtesy of the Review Button:

Chapter 10... in which Shiro causes problems for everyone, Kritiker is paranoid, and Weiss is worried.


	10. Round the Mulberry Bush

**A/N -** Sorry about this chapter taking so long. If it makes you feel better, there isn't a cliff hanger this time.

shikigami-kun - You see the difference between your cliffhangers and mine is I try to avoid them. Glad you liked the chapter!

Gaeriel - Here's another chapter for you!

Aerlynn - Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

HeatherR - I was just wondering if anyone understood the chapter titles... I'm glad you did! Here's the next chapter for you!

Person - Thank you!

Fanyar - I'm glad you like the story-blushes-

Narijima - I'm glad you liked the scene with Sena and Aya. 'I told you so' is such an amusing phrase when it's not directed at you, isn't it? And you do have a point about Kritiker. Hope you like this chapter!

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**Chapter 10 - Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush**

Omi looked out across the silent compound. So far, so good. He carried Aya's katana and Sena's chakram on his back. He had to go inside to hijack the security system, so he would be the one to meet up with them.

Spotting the movement of the guards that he had been waiting for, he spoke into the radio, "Havana, Balinese, move out."

Silent as a shadow, he was in the building.

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The sudden light blinded him. Blinking several times against the pain, he tried to make his eyes adjust more quickly. Unfortunately being in the solid darkness for so long, the adjustment wasn't quick in coming. He tightened his grip on Ken.

"Grab that one."

Aya heard the approaching heavy foot steps. He tensed. He had fought in adverse light conditions before, but it wasn't his forte. He felt them try to jerk Ken away from him. He kept his grip and struck at where he thought the offender was.

Somehow, despite his bleary vision he scored a blow. He heard a grunt of surprise and pain.

"Just as I would expect from a Kritiker agent."

Aya's eyes narrowed. They knew he worked for Kritiker. The question was, how much else did they know?

"Don't worry, I just want to talk to the patient there with you."

"I won't let you take him," Aya curtly replied, stalling for time for his clearing vision to finish sharpening. He could make out a man somewhere in his late 20's standing in the door way and two large burly men. One of which was standing over him. He wondered what Sena was up to in the vent. Hopefully it wouldn't be one of his usual stunts.

He glanced over at Ken who he still had firmly in his grasp. Ken seemed almost a shadow of his usual self. His face was pale, and he seemed thinner. A few purplish bruises decorated the visible skin on his arms. His features were blank and a vacant look rested in his eyes. Aya nearly blanched. What had they done to him! Aya moved in front of Ken protectively.

"Don't worry, you will get your turn as well, my red headed friend. But for now, we just need your companion here," he signaled the other two men.

The closer of the two moved to grab Aya. Letting go of Ken, he viciously hit the man with a quick combination of punches. While he was distracted, the other man took the opportunity to grab Ken. Swinging down from the vent, Sena hit the man full in the chest, knocking him to the ground. When the large man tried to get up, Sena felled him with a blow to the neck.

"This is getting ridiculous."

The man in the doorway fired two shots. One dart hit Aya in the arm, the other took Sena in the shoulder. A wave of lethargy began to overtake them. Tranquilizers!

Aya had just enough time to make a mental note to painfully kill the man before unconsciousness took him.

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"Your probably wondering why you are here. Either that or why your awareness is here rather than wherever it has been residing. Did you know the director of this facility is a genius when it comes to psychiatric medicine?" Shiro swung a chair around so it faced the young man in a straitjacket. Sitting on it, his manner was that of one having a casual conversation.

"In case you're wondering about the straitjacket, it's asylum policy. You killed some one, you know. Do you remember that? You were pretty out of it at the time. You're quite the fighter. I must say, you are looking much better than the last time I saw you. I found you dying in the boxcar, you know. You were quite a mess. You look like something is bothering you... is it the memory of being hurt? Or perhaps the fact that you killed someone? Oh don't worry. I'm not a doctor," he chuckled, "I actually just came to tell you about a hidden war going on in the city."

The young man gave a slight frown.

"Hard to believe? Or maybe not so hard, depending on how well you know those two young men who were in the room with you. Or should I say, the two Kritiker agents. They've been checking out this place, you know. It's going to go down soon. The people who run this place have ties that Kritiker doesn't like. And what it doesn't like, it destroys. Kritiker masquerades itself as an organization that works for the benefit of humanity. But that is the mask. Underneath the glittery colors, it's just as twisted as any other corrupt organization. This land is in the strangle hold of organizations warring on each other. Each organization that goes down is taken down by one just as bad. Kritiker is no different."

Shiro leaned forward as if to divulge a secret, "Kritiker was created as part of a power struggle between two brothers. It's purpose is only to rid itself of those who get in it's way."

He leaned back and resumed his normal, conversational tone, "I'm not saying that all the people they've killed have been innocent. Most were cruel and part of countless crimes. But their reasons are far from virtuous. You have these layers upon layers of associations each as corrupt as the last. Even if an organization starts out benevolent, it quickly becomes as rotten as the rest. Once an establishment starts to kill, there is no redeeming it."

He studied the inmate for a moment before continuing, "This brings me to my point. We must smash through the layers of organizations strangling the people. Only then can we truly breathe. Ironically, we must organize to do this. But once our purpose is accomplished we will disperse. Our purpose is to free, not control.

"You are a good fighter, with your help we could bring down the violent organizations. I know this is a lot of information all at once, I don't need an answer now. I'm not like Kritiker or Takatori, I won't threaten you or those you care about to make you work for me. But, think about what I've said. And, if you decide you wish to join my cause, just come to this town and look for me, I'll find you."

"Unfortunately, our time here is just about up. The drug I gave you is beginning to wear off. And the Kritiker agents should be awake by now as well. This place will fall tonight," Shiro stood, "Until we meet again, my friend."

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Blood dripped down from Kyo's tomahawk. All the targets save for the director, who was already inside the building, had arrived all at once though in separate cars. A foolish move on their part. Kyo had taken care of the guards and Yohji the targets.

"Bombay, we've taken out the targets outside," Kyo reported.

"It's up to you now Chibi," Yohji chimed in, "Have you found Abyssinian or Laperm yet?"

"Not yet, I haven't found the director either."

"We'll come and help you look."

"Negative Havana, I can handle it. It doesn't seem like anyone heard the commotion outside. Either that they thought it was the inmates causing a ruckus."

"Well that's one advantage to this place, I guess."

"I just found our teammates."

A brief crackle signaled two other radios coming online.

"Both of you in one piece?" Yohji cheerfully inquired.

"Aa," came Aya's curt reply, "What's the mission status?"

"Just the director left."

"Almost done then."

"I saw Siberian."

"...Are you feeling okay?"

"I thought he was dead."

"...that inmate might have looked like him to you doesn't mean that was him. That was the inmate that gave us letter," Sena commented.

The inmate that gave them the message? Well he did look like the boy in the picture... But their teammate was dead. There was no way they could be the same person.

"They may look similar but there's no way it's possible."

"It was him."

Yohji sighed, "Let's take care of the mission first. Then we'll worry about everything else. Bombay, Abyssinian, find the director. Laperm, you do the same. Sheesh... I never thought that I'd be the one to have to do that..."

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Omi and Aya stalked carefully down the long white hallways, their eyes open for their elusive target. They had already checked the office, only to find it empty.

"Found the target! She's making a run for the outside. She's trying to get out the back!" Sena's voice came over the radio.

"We'll get her, we're going around to the exit now."

The radio fell silent.

"Mission Accomplished," came Kyo's somber voice.

"Let's get out of here," Sena's voice sounded relieved.

Omi looked up at Aya with sympathy in his eyes. Aya noticed his gaze. Straightening his shoulders he continued searching down the hall.

"Aya..."

Aya turned and silenced him with a look.

Omi shook his head. As much as he wished it were true, it would never be. But it seemed there was no convincing Aya, nor had he the heart to. Instead he trailed along behind Aya.

Using the radio, he contacted the others once again, "You guys go on back, we'll catch up."

"No way Chibi, we're staying here until you two get your butts out."

"You're enjoying this too much."

"Everyone else is just being irrational."

"Heh, but you didn't deny it."

"Sorry kid, but you and Aya can keep the job."

Omi watched Aya open a door to check yet another room. Aya paused and then rushed in.

"Ken!" At the sound of Aya's voice, Omi rushed the rest of the way to the door and looked in.

He found Aya crouched next to a familiar figure in a straitjacket.

"Ken!"

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**A/N -** Well I didn't get to everything I planned to in this chapter but hey at least there's no cliffhanger!

The Review button has been a bit lonely lately. It's too depressed to write a preview of the next chapter...

I'm sure you can make a pretty good guess what's goign to happen in the next chapter though.


	11. Koyaanisqatsi

**Review Responses!**

Anendee - I'm glad I'm keeping Sena and Kyo in character! They were kinda hard to write at first because of how short Glühen is compared to the TV series. A righteous Omi is a very scary thing (nods)

Needoja - I'm glad you like the story! As for Shiro, well... you'll see.

shikigami-kun -Glad you liked it! Don't worry, I have a plan to get Ken back to reality. I think you'll like it too (grin)

HeatherR - Glad you like the chapter title! Don't worry the answers to your questions will come soon, probably in the next couple chapters.

MikaSamu - One of Weiss' major strengths and faults is their devotion to one another. Yes, Shiro is a very scary person. He has a major part to play so they'll be seeing more of him.

Narijima - No one believed Aya at first because well, they had no idea if he had been drugged with something, Sena wasn't agreeing, and they had only come to terms with things a short while ago, and were still in the habit of convincing themselves. But it doesn't matter Aya is always right, except for when he's not.

Hannalice- I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for stepping out of your usual fandom to read this!

**A/N** - Sorry about the long delay! I apologize in advance for the way this chapter ends.

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**Chapter 11 - Koyaanisqatsi**

Koyaanisqatsi - (noun) 1. Life out of balance 2. life in turmoil 3. life disintegrating 4. a state of life that calls for another way of living

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'_If you doubt Kritiker, then it's over' _Manx's voice echoed in his mind

'_Once an organization starts to kill there is no redeeming it' _the man's words followed.

What were they fighting for, really? Was Kritiker really better than those they hunted? Ken put his hands to his head, as if the action could calm the turmoil within him. He became vaguely aware that people were calling out to him, but their voices were distant. Ken really didn't want to deal with anyone right now either. He pulled back, away from the voices that called to him. He couldn't deal with them right now.

He just wanted to disappear.

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Aya was now sharing his room with Ken. The reasoning being: Kyo and Omi would often end up researching late into the night, Yohji had his incorrigible social life, and they had doubt about putting even a goldfish into Sena's care.

Sena resented that point. He had a goldfish once. It lived a very full and happy three months thank you very much.

When he had watched the others try and coax some some response out of Ken, Sena wished there was something that he could do. Kyo had been working on the research aspect. Sena not being a computer wizard, found himself at a loss.

He had nothing to contribute. They always yelled at him half the time anyway. Would they reassign him now that they had their old teammate back?

Ken could come and go and they would always accept him. Sena could try all he wanted and never find a place among them. He felt a deep stab of envy.

Sena flopped down on a chair and contemplated the young man in front of him. Aya was currently in the shop along with Kyo. Yohji was out making deliveries, and Omi was typing up the mission report. Ken was there, sitting on the couch, as vacant as when they had found him.

Irritation flared within Sena.

"Your incredibly selfish you know that?" Sena spat, "Everyone is worried about you! And all you do is sit there, not even caring!"

Sena strode over to Ken, glowering at him, "WAKE UP! Can't you see your hurting them!"

Ken remained motionless, giving no indication of having heard Sena's tirade.

Seething in anger, jealousy, and frustration, Sena stormed upstairs.

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"I received the latest report from Weiss. They were successful," the quiet woman in the doorway reported to the lone man by the window, "They found Siberian. Alive."

"Alive?"

"Yes. However he seems to be in some sort of stupor or catatonic state."

"Does he show any signs of recovering soon?"

"None so far."

"Remove him from Weiss. We have no choice but to have him put down."

"Sir?"

"We may have medical doctors, but we have no psychologists. We can't risk him becoming a leak of we were to send him to someone outside of Kritiker."

"But the rest of Weiss..."

The man sighed, "I'll give them a week. If Siberian hasn't improved to a point where he may become of use to us by then, he will be removed."

"Yes sir."

"I think it would be best that we don't tell Weiss of this just yet. They have enough stress to deal with right now."

"Yes sir..."

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"Do you want to look out the window?" Aya opened the curtains, letting sunlight pour into the room. Aya's window faced the front of the shop, allowing the viewer to take in the busy streets below. It could be a bit noisy at times, especially if the window was open when the streets were crowded, but it beat having a window facing the alley.

Ken hadn't responded to Aya's question, and Aya was beginning not to expect him to. Aya felt a bit guilty for that. He felt as if he was giving up on him already. After all, it had only been a few days.

What keeps you there, Ken? What has you firmly locked away in your own mind? What drove you to this? Why won't you come out? Aya cast his gaze away from Ken, instead looking out at the street below.

"Aya," Omi's voice came from the open doorway, "Could you take the morning shift tomorrow? The next shipment of flowers is going to arrive tomorrow morning instead of this evening."

"Aa."

"Thanks, Aya." He listened to Omi's footsteps fade down the hall.

They're like flowers, Aya realized. Both Ken and Aya-chan are like flowers. Destined to sit quietly until they just fade away. And he couldn't do anything to stop it.

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Yohji leaned against the register in the shop, bored. It had nearly been a week since they had recovered Ken. They had tried everything they could think of, but still Ken remained unresponsive.

Omi had hardly spent any time with Ken, instead spending most of his time researching. When he did spend time with him, Omi seemed to feel guilty, as if he felt bad for not being around Ken more. Yohji understood, it was hard to see their friend like this.

Yohji absently doodled on a piece of register tape. It was the slow time of day. Only a handful of customers were in the shop. Not their usual schoolgirl rush, but instead some older folk and serious buyers. None of them wanted to be helped at the moment, Yohji had asked already, and at the moment, that suited him just fine. At a table nearby, Aya was working on an arrangement of calla lilies. The only thing marring the tranquility of the afternoon was the sounds of sirens nearby.

Aya, ever the responsible one, had taken it on himself to be the one to look after Ken. Aya was surprisingly patient with their friend. Yohji wondered if it came from having dealt with Aya-chan.

Yohji had taken it upon himself to keep Ken company. He would sit and talk to Ken, tell him about the day, his dates, how poor Sena and Kyo got mobbed in the shop, anything and everything really. It was nice being able to talk to Ken again, but he missed Ken's commentary and being able to tease the poor boy.

...Sheesh... would those sirens ever stop! Yohji saw Aya snap a lily stem.

Sena and Kyo hadn't really dealt with Ken much. It didn't really surprise him either. They didn't really know Ken. Sena didn't seem to really like being around Ken much. Perhaps the vacant look unnerved the boy. Kyo had been helping how he could, which was mostly with the research. Even if he hadn't said so, he knew Omi appreciated the help.

The front door of the shop flew open, shattering the tranquility. A pair of rugged looking men burst into the shop each brandishing a handgun.

"EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! NOW!"

Well, isn't this just dandy.

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**A/N** - Sorry this chapter was so short. I'm sure you can figure out what the sirens were all about and what's going to happen next (evil grin)

Review Button: HEY! I'm supposed to give the next chapter preview!

Well you've been slacking.

Review Button: Have not!


	12. Felis Domesticus

**Review Responses!**

Shikigami-kun - Ahh! Nooo! Don't do that! As for the gunmen... well... You'll see.

HeatherR - People being sent to assassinate an assassin? That's an odd way to put it. As for Ken and Shiro... (grin) I ain't giving away anything. But don't worry I'll try not to leave you in suspense too long!

Bine - Close, but not quite, on your guess there! I'm glad you like my chapters! I'll try not to make evil cliffhangers but I gotta end the chapters somewhere.

Narijima - I'm glad you like the chapter title! For some reason I really like the word koyaanisqatsi. It's from the Hopi language in case you were wondering. As for the goldfish... I don't think Sena knows how long those little fish can live...

A/N - This chapter's title is the scientific name for a house cat. Kitties are territorial...

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**Chapter 12 - Felis Domesticus**

"All of you get in that corner over there and if you even move funny I'll blow your head off!" the gunman growled. Timidly the customers complied.

Two more gunmen entered the shop, "The cops just arrived."

"They can't do anything to us now, we have hostages."

"Heh... getting hostages from a flower shop is like taking candy from a baby."

Yohji tried to refrain from smirking.

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Omi waved cheerily to the receptionist as he made his way back to the car where Kyo was waiting after making a delivery.

"Hey, you're from that kitty flower shop right?" The receptionist asked, "I don't think you should go back just yet, dear. Some gunmen are holding everyone hostage. They were running from the police and are holed up in there."

"What!"

"Don't worry dear, the police are experts at these situations."

Omi wasn't really worried about his coworkers. He was more worried about the customers and whether or not Sena would pull one of his brilliant plans again... Regardless, the police had little to worry about.

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Sena had heard the shouted commands of the gunmen from where he had been in the back room. Pressing himself against the wall next to the doorway, he peeked out at the scene in the main shop. There were four gunmen in the shop. Two were keeping the hostages in order, while the other two were crouched near a window keeping an eye on the police, who had begun to station themselves outside.

Why hadn't Yohji or Aya done anything yet? They could easily take these guys down. ...Oh right... the customers. There was no way they could risk them getting hit by a bullet. They needed a few seconds of distraction...

One gunman, obviously the leader, barked an order, "Go check the back rooms, make sure we have everyone."

One of the men by the window complied, heading towards the room where Sena was hidden. Sena ducked away from sight.

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A crash came from the back room. The robbers' heads turned towards the sound. That was the moment that Aya had been waiting for.

With the ease of practice, he quickly disarmed and knocked out the closest gunman. He didn't have to look to know that Yohji had done the same.

One gunman left.

Having had a moment more to react than his fallen comrades, the gunman managed to get off a shot. Unfortunately, it missed instead shattering an innocent pot of geraniums. He didn't have a chance to get off another before he was taken out by a boot to the head.

Once again the doors to the Koneko burst open, this time heralding the entrance of the police.

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The crack of a gunshot shattered the perfect silence of the room.

He blinked. Once, twice. He knew that sound. Danger. Snapping into mission mode, his senses went on high alert. He began to take in his surroundings. The room was familiar. That coat... Aya's. That copy of War and Peace... definitely Aya's. He was in Aya's room?

That gunshot... intruders? Questions such as how and why he got here, fell away as his mind focused on the issue at hand. Carefully he crept into the hallway, keeping an eye out for anyone who didn't belong there.

He had just finished establishing that there was no one else on the third story where he had started when he heard unfamiliar footsteps coming up the stairs.

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Sena wearily trudged upstairs. The police and reporter had been asking millions of questions for what seemd like forever and it had worn him out, despite being only ten minutes in reality. After answering the police's questions and escaping the reporters best he could he had left Aya and Yohji to deal with the rest, slipping back into the apartment. Omi and Kyo would probably be back soon, and no doubt would want to know everything that had transpired and then some. Ugh... Kritiker would probably want a report too. Couldn't everyone just compare notes or something! Why did he have to repeat the same story half a zillion times?

"All this is giving me a headache just thinking about it..." He groaned, putting a hand to his head.

He never saw the blow that rendered him unconscious.

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Aya made his way out of the shop followed by Yohji. The had both just finished answering the police's questions. Well, actually Yohji had answered most of them. Aya, as usual, reserved his quota of multi syllabled words for more productive uses. They had declined all interviews and did their best to escape the persistent photographers. The less publicity the better. It would be very bad if someone recognized them on a mission.

They had closed up the shop the best the could after the cops had finished nosing about for the day and then retreated into the apartment. Yohji headed into the kitchen, while Aya went upstairs.

Only to find Sena out cold on the floor.

Aya stared dumbly at Sena's still form for all of two seconds. Had they missed a gunman? Had one of them come in the back? ...what if they had found Ken! As quickly as stealth would allow, he rushed to his room.

Only to find it empty.

No. Not again. Not again damnit! Aya clenched his hands into fists.

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Yohji was in the process of making himself a sandwich when Aya appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Want a sandwich? There's plenty of ingredients."

"Yohji," Aya's tone was brimming with barely contained anger and frustration, "Sena's out cold and Ken's missing."

"What!" Yohji began to follow the train of thought that Aya had just gone though moments before, "We should look for them. Maybe we can catch that rat before he can do anything to Ken."

Aya nodded.

"I'll take the lower floors, you start with the upper."

Giving one curt nod, Aya turned to go upstairs again. He had just begun to descend to the basement when he heard a thud, and then Aya's voice.

"Ken!"

Yohji spun around and ran to where Aya's voice had come from. Turning a corner, he found Aya standing in front of Ken who was just picking himself up off of the floor. Ken's movements were careful, as if he was favoring a side. He looked up at Aya, with that look he always got on his face after he had done something he knows was stupid. Aya's eyes were a bit wide, one might call the look on his face surprise. Or at least as close to surprise as Aya ever expressed. Ken looked over at Yohji. He actually looked _at_ him. Ken's eyes were filled with relief at the sight of them.

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"Ken..? Can you hear me?"

Ken rolled his eyes and nodded.

"You had us worried there for a while Kenken."

Ken gave them an aplologetic look.

Snapping back into alert mode, Aya made a quick sweep of the immediate area with his eyes, "We still need to find whoever it was that knocked out Sena."

Good, they knew about the intruder too. He was relived to find that they were okay. Was Omi here too? It was the middle of the day, was he in the shop? Ken wanted to tell them that he had knocked out the intruder, but somehow... he couldn't get the words past his throat. Wait a minute... who's Sena?

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A/N- Ken's back in reality! Yay! A lot of stuff happened in this chapter and there's more to come! Kritiker is going to show up in the next chapter. Poor Kritiker.

Review Button: Alas... once again I have been neglected! (cries) But you won't forget me will you?


	13. And the Rest is Silence

**Review Responses!**

Carrothien - Here's another chapter for you! And no, Sena never saw what hit him.

Gonyos - The boys fighting in broad daylight... ah the crazy world... Well it's something new for the fangirls to fawn over. You know they will. Those girls are scary.

Needoja - Eeep! Sorry about the short chapter! Don't have a heart attack! Quick here's another chapter!

Anendee - Yay! I'm glad you liked it! As for what's gonna happen to Ken... Well you'll see.

Rapunzel4 - Yep, Ken's back! I hope you like the next chapter!

Shikigami-kun - Ooo.. you picked up on some important things. Ken's silence is going to be rather important. As for how much he remembers about the entire time he was gone...

MikaSamu - I'm glad you liked the humor! Of course the Weiss boys don't think it's funny... (except for maybe Yohji) but hey, it makes for good reading.

Dark - Don't be confused! The gunshot snapped Ken back to reality, because well, he instinctively reacted to the sound as being something dangerous. So the lizard part of his brain (that is, the survival part) kicked in and brought him out of the haze he trapped himself in. I hope that makes sense. If you ever get confused again don't hesitate to ask me okay?

Narijima - Thanks! As for Ken getting back at Sena for yelling at him... Well only Ken knows for sure, ne?

HeatherR - I'm glad you liked it! Ooo! And you picked up on the silence too! Some gets explained this chapter. Everything will be explained in time don't worry! And yes, he is still rooming with Aya... and there's a bedroom scene this chapter too! Though not in the way you would expect (grin)

_On with the show!_

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**Chapter 13 - And the Rest is Silence**

Ken quietly padded up the stairs. Aya glided after him. Yohji had to settle for just walking. Yohji wasn't sure just what Ken was up to, but he knew the boy wanted them to follow him. But one thing was seriously bothering him.

Ken was too quiet. He hadn't said a single word since he had snapped back to reality. Granted it had been only a minute or two, but he hadn't responded to any of their questions with words. And just something about this silence seriously unsettled him.

Normally he would chatter pleasantly with you about anything. And there were times when you couldn't get Ken to shut up - like when you had a hangover or when you really really didn't want him to mention something. But at this moment, he would give almost anything for Ken to say something.

Oh please don't let him have gone mute.

If he had, they would switch him to a different team. He wouldn't be able to use their communicators. And what good would it do them to not be able to communicate? They would probably switch him to some information team, and they wouldn't be able to see him again. That was something Yohji didn't want to happen.

Not that Ken was a bad hacker, mind you but he didn't want to loose Ken again just after getting him back.

Ken stopped where Sena lay. He looked up at them questioningly. Then it struck Yohji. He burst out laughing. Of course! Ken didn't know who Sena was!

"Ken, that's Sena. He's on our team. No need to knock him out, even if he can be irritating at times."

The expression that crossed Ken's face could only be described as "oops".

Aya just looked exasperated.

"Well, let's get Sleeping Beauty into his room shall we?" Yohji scooped up Sena and deposited him onto his bed.

At Ken's perplexed look at the room location, Yohji explained, "We shuffled around the rooms since we have two new teammates. You're rooming with Aya."

Come on Ken, _say_ something.

Ken opened his mouth and then closed it. He shot Yohji a you've-got-to-be-kidding look.

"Hey, Aya was the one who suggested it."

Ken gaped.

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"Omi and Kyo should be back soon," Aya said, disrupting Yohji's teasing. Aya understood what Yohji was trying to do, and why. Ken's unusual silence bothered him as well. But, provoking Ken about their new status of sharing a room could make said situation difficult. Ken didn't like him enough as it was.

Without waiting to see if they followed, Aya went back down to the kitchen. It was about lunchtime, as Yohji's half made sandwich on the counter reminded him. After a quick survey, He decided to make soup for all of them. Yohji and Ken soon joined him in the kitchen.

"Ayan! Yotan!" Omi's voice rang out from the doorway to the apartment, "You all okay?"

"Don't worry chibi, we're all in one piece."

Omi and Kyo entered the kitchen, verifying for themselves the validity of Yohji's statement.

"So what exactly happened?" Kyo asked. Neither Kyo nor Omi seemed to have noticed the change in Ken yet.

"Ugh... Why do people keep asking that? Can't you all compare notes or something?" Sena groaned as he entered the kitchen, "By the way... did anyone get the number of the bus that hit me?"

Yohji laughed, "Well you see, Ken here didn't know you joined the team and so he clocked you one."

All eyes turned to Ken, who gave a apologetic grin.

"...Ken!" Omi looked astonished and relived at the same time. Questions then rushed out of Omi's mouth faster than anyone could comprehend.

Ken looked as if he was going to say to say something, but then didn't. Omi frowned, but said nothing. Ken's silence was really starting to worry Aya now.

Aya turned off the heat on the soup, and put it on the table, breaking up the moment.

Lunch was an interesting affair. They ended up recounting, once again, the events of the morning. A few questions were asked of Ken, but as before, he responded only non verbally.

Aya kept a careful watch of Ken throughout the meal. Ken listened to the chatter at the table, but seemed distant. Once when Ken didn't think anyone was looking, Aya caught an almost guilty look on Ken's face.

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"So this is where you've been hiding."

Ken had been avoiding everyone since lunch. Well not really avoiding. He just avoided interaction. Kyo wasn't really sure why. He really didn't know the guy, so he didn't have much to guess off of, but he thought it might have something to do with Ken's seeming inability to speak. And so now he stood at the bottom of the stairs to the basement across from ken who sat on one of the couches.

At Kyo's greeting, Ken looked up from the book he had been apparently contemplating. Kyo walked over and sat down next to him.

"There's quite a bit of soccer gear in that box over there. Do you know how to play? If you don't know how to play, I could teach you. I used to play it in school. If you want, we could go to the park tomorrow. There's a few fields there. There's a lot of kids there in the afternoons, but if we go in the morning we should be fine."

Kyo thought that getting out and doing something might make him feel better. Being inside and left to his thoughts didn't seem to be doing much for him, and it had only been an afternoon. Kyo didn't know why there was a box full of sports gear living in the corner of the basement, but he had never seen anyone touch it, so it should be okay to use it. Now the trick was to get Ken to agree to a game.

Ken looked up and gave him a mischievous grin.

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Inwardly, Ken was bordering on chipper. After all, someone wanted to play soccer with him! True, Kyo didn't think he knew how to play... but still! Someone wanted to play soccer with him! Maybe Kyo could help him coach sometime... that is, if he ever remembered how to speak...

Ken tried to shove away that depressing thought in favor of looking forward to the game that they were going to play tomorrow. It was amazing how noisy one's internal monologue got when you stopped speaking. Perhaps people had a quota of things that have to be spoken, either internally or externally and if you didn't speak it aloud it all got stuck in your head.

Ken shifted on his bed, trying to get more comfortable. He had a twin sized bed on the side of the room opposite of Aya's. Apparently while he had been stuck inside his own head, they had rearranged it to make it livable for the two of them. Well as livable as sharing a room with Aya could be.

It was already three hours into the next day, and prospects for sleep weren't looking very good. He had made a very startling discovery about Aya.

Aya snored.

And not just a soft, reasonable snore. A loud one. Seriously, Aya sounded like a lawnmower. On one level, it boggled Ken's mind that Aya would be the type to snore like a lawnmower. Didn't you have to have a bigger chest capacity to make that sound? And Aya didn't seem like the type to snore like that. Yohji or even Omi seemed more likely. But Aya?

On another level, Ken wanted nothing more than for the noise to stop. Aya had better not snore like this every night. Because being awake at three in the morning with only his thoughts for company was not a place he wanted to be at the moment. His thoughts might go places he didn't want to think about.

Like the time he spent as Tanaka's captive, alone in the dark with that maddening dripping sound. You couldn't escape the drip, you were tied down. You couldn't ignore the drip, as it dripped right onto your face.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Just you and the incessant drip alone together for hours. No escape. Visits from Tanaka demanding answers had been a relief even if Tanaka had him beat. Or his joints dislocated. Tanaka had favored that over breaking bones. After all, you could dislocate joints over and over again as many times as you wanted. Anything was better than that drip of water. However, Tanaka seemed creepily fond of the effects water torture had, and the efficient way it could begin to drive you mad in a mater of hours. Though Ken took a grim sense of pride in the fact that he had clammed up rather than started to scream.

But that was all over, he told himself. He was free now, and back at home with everyone. So why couldn't he find his voice? It was okay to speak now. He _should_ speak now. He was worrying everyone by not speaking.

So why couldn't he?

SNORE.

...Ken made a mental note to leave a soccer ball somewhere Aya could trip over it.

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A/N - This chapter was pretty mellow, but the next chapter won't be. Certain things alluded to in this chapter will be dealt with in the next one. Everything will be explained eventually I promise!

So... how did you like the bedroom scene? Just makes ya want to chuck a pillow at him doesn't it? I'm sorry... I couldn't help it. Please don't lynch me.

Review Button: Hey! Don't forget me!


	14. Rift

**Review Responses!**

HeatherR - I'm glad you liked the bedroom scene! Ken might not poke Aya when he snores but he might throw a pillow at him. Of course, this might wake up Aya and start a fight but at least it stops the snoring right?

Anendee - Kyo didn't figure out who's soccer stuff it was because he didn't really think about that too much. Ken's voice will come back eventually, don't worry. Not to say his thoughts will calm down much...

Elfgoddess00 - I'm glad you liked the chapter! I'm glad you liked the line about the soccer ball. It's amazing what you can get away with when people think your a bit absentminded.

MikaSamu - I'm glad you liked the humor! And don't worry they'll get to play the game.

Shikigami-kun - Yes, that is how I got Aya and lawnmower in the same sentence. Not what you were thinking of was it? It's just my little way of showing Aya as being as human as the rest of them.

Narijima - I'm glad you liked it! I hope you like this chapter as well!

Weenieboy - Thanks for the advice. I'll try to keep it mind as continue the story.

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**Chapter 14 - Rift**

Yohji squinted up at the morning sun. It was going to be a beautiful day. Not that Yohji was a morning person, but he could appreciate it once he actually woke up.

Kyo had thought it would be a brilliant idea for everyone to go out and play a game of soccer. Of course, Kyo thought the part where _everyone_ plays only after it was already the morning. When Yohji found himself being woken up at an ungodly hour of the morning, initially he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but the thought of how happy it would make Ken if he went and played made him change his mind. So now he found himself on a grassy field, with his yawning teammates, and a beaming Ken.

"So does everyone know at least the basics?" Kyo asked.

Everyone gave an affirmative. How could you live with Ken and not pick up the basics? They had all been talked into watching a game with Ken at least once.

"This is just going to be a friendly game, so after a quick review of the rules let's split into teams."

"Who's going to be on what team?" Sena idly rocked back and forth on his heels.

"I'll be on whichever team Ken's on," Yohji volunteered. He'd like at least a chance of scoring a goal sometime in the game.

"We should decide randomly Yohji," Omi countered.

One children's choosing game later, they had decided their teams. Kyo, Aya, and Omi were on one team, while Yohji, Sena, and Ken were on the other.

"Let's all take turns being each position so no one gets bored being the goalie," Sena suggested as they walked out to their end of the field. Ken looked a bit miffed at the idea of goalie being boring.

"I don't think Ken will mind keeping the goal for us, will you Ken?"

Ken grinned.

Soon everyone was sweaty and a bit disheveled. The rules had been followed rather loosely despite Kyo's attempts to correct them on some of the finer points. At times Ken looked liked he wanted to yell as well. Regardless, they all had a good time.

Yohji had already known that Ken was an excellent player, but seeing him in action was something entirely different. By the way he stood in the goal, you could tell that that it was _his._ He showed a frightening focus that rivaled one of Aya's glares in its intensity. The only other times Yohji had seen this level of focus and intensity in Ken was on missions.

Yohji chuckled. What was he thinking? There was no comparison between soccer and missions. It just wasn't very often that he saw Ken serious, that's all.

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Omi lay on the grass, exhausted from playing so hard. His team had lost, but not for lack of trying. They had gotten it over to the goal plenty of times, but never actually in it. Kicking a ball at a goal with Ken it was like kicking at a wall.

"Your a good goalie," Kyo commented to Ken, "I think I could get one past you though."

Ken gave Kyo a look that clearly said, 'wanna bet?'

Yohji laughed, "If you can get one past Ken, I'll take all your morning shifts for a week."

"I'll hold you to that."

Omi chuckled. This little trip had been good for them. He had originally come along because he had thought that it would be good for Ken, but he quickly had found himself enjoying it. It was times like these that he could almost believe that they really were just florists and that this was more than just a waking dream.

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"They won't like this."

"No, they won't," Birman remained impassive.

Manx sighed. Since she spent more time with Weiss than Birman, she had come to know them better and couldn't always make her self think as objectively as Birman did. To her they had become people she knew rather than those who just took orders from her. But while she always did what logic told her, she didn't always like it.

"He'll be useful this way. In his current capacity, he's no good as part of Weiss."

"And if he becomes able to be fully functional as part of Weiss again?"

"We'll see. Persia has been considering moving him for a while."

"This is news to me."

Birman shrugged, "You've been busy with other things. Your main concern is making sure Weiss does it's missions. Not team assembly."

Manx frowned, "Team assembly is crucial to being able to fulfill missions."

"Talk to Persia about it. Here are the folders for the newest Weiss mission and here's a mission folder for Siberian as well."

Manx took the folders, "Is there a mission tape?"

"Not this time."

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All too soon, Manx found herself outside the Koneko. Sena let her inside, and everyone gathered in the basement.

She let her gaze linger on each of them for a moment. Havana and Laperm seemed mildly curious about what she had in store for them. Bombay and Balinese seemed concerned and Abyssinian was unreadable. Siberian seemed tired and somehow... different.

"I have orders regarding the composition of this team. Siberian will no longer be part of Weiss but work solo instead."

"WHAT!"

She had known this would happen. She waited for their outbursts to die down before continuing, "As of right now, Siberian is of no use in a team unit. He will return to doing solo missions until Kritiker decides otherwise. For, the time being he will remain stationed here, but this is subject to change at any time."

The tension in the air relaxed ever so slightly at her last statement. She turned her gaze to Siberian. His face was solemn. She wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not. She turned her gaze to the rest of the room. Abyssinian's jaw was clenched, while Balinese stared at the floor. The shock hadn't died from Bombay's face yet. The two newest members seemed unsure of themselves. Laperm fidgeted, while Havana watched quietly as if he wanted to do or say something, but wasn't sure it was his place to.

"Weiss, you have a mission." It seemed almost odd that she would find herself relaxing as she said those familiar words. She held up the mission folder before handing it to Bombay. She handed the second folder to Siberian, "You also have a mission."

Next time, she would get Birman to do this.

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The past few days had gone by quiet and subdued. Ken had begun to help out in the flower shop again, but only in the back rooms making arrangements. They really didn't need to deal with questions.

Ken stood at the edge of the lake in the park, the washed out moonlight giving the water a false silver sheen. He threw a pebble, watching it skip a few times across the placid surface before it sank down into the murky depths below.

Everyone else would be at the mission sight by now.

Unable to stay inside while everyone else was gone, he had eventually found himself in the park, dooming pebbles to a watery grave. His own mission wouldn't be for a few more days.

"Do you believe that the innocent need to be protected, or that the evil must be punished?"

Ken spun around to face the person who had spoken. His eyes widened as he realized it was the man he had spoken to in the asylum.

"Or have you fallen into a state of detached indifference like your friend Abyssinian?" the man continued, "What drives your fight Siberian?"

How did he know their code names?

"I've worked for Kritiker for a long time and dug into their inner workings. They aren't the organization that those who do their actual dirty work think they are. You remember our previous conversation don't you?"

Ken remembered it. It had been bothering him ever since. He wasn't sure if he wanted to believe what he had been told or not.

"I have some information you might be interested in. The evidence is all right here on this disk so you can verify it for yourself as well..." he held up a disk, "Oh and one thing you might want to know about the mission Weiss is currently on..."

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Sena crouched in position, waiting for the right moment. Things had been going smoothly so far. Kyo and Omi had made it into the office to collect the data, and the rest of them were set to take out the target. Sena was in position to cut off the target's escape route and serve as look out, while Aya and Yohji went in for the kill.

There was a brief crackle of static, and then an unfamiliar voice came over the radio, "Abyssinian come in! Bombay! Can anyone hear me?"

Sena frowned, "Who are you?"

"This is Siberian! You got to listen to me!"

"You can't be Siberian... he doesn't talk."

"Argh... we don't have time for this!"

"Target spotted," Yohji's voice came over the radio.

"Balinese! Listen to me! It's a TRAP!"

"K-- _Siberian!"_

"You all have to get out of there now!"

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Review Button: Yep, she did it again. She gave you a cliffhanger. I told her not to, but she never listens to me. Just to you people. You suggest stuff, she tries to work it in. But I'm the important one here! I have all the power of communication! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Ken: Don't they ever get tired of watching bad stuff happen to us?

Review Button: That's crazy talk.


	15. All ye, All ye, Come Home Free

**Review Responses**

HeatherR - This is one of the cases where we know more than the characters do. Ken doesn't really know what Shiro is up to other than what he's been told. Things should start making more sense soon. Don't worry!

Anendee - Sorry about the awful cliffhanger! Here's another chapter!

Shikigami-kun - Must resist the dark side! Force, come to my aid! And yes, the boys have gotten themselves into quite the mess.

weenieboy - Thank you! Sorry about the cliffhanger!

Narijima - I'm so sorry about the evil cliffhanger! They write themselves you know.

Das Blume - Thank you! I'll update faster next time!

Evelyn - Here's another chapter! I'll update faster next time! Really I will!

A/N - The chapter title comes from the game hide-and-seek. I know there's another version of it that you use to call for everyone to come out of their hiding place, but this one works a little bit better here.

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**Chapter 15 - All ye, All ye, Come Home Free**

Ken spared only enough time to grab his bugnucks and his radio before racing off to the Weiss mission site. It had been on the way to the site that he had radioed his warning to them. Dividing his attention between the radio and disregarding the speed limit, it was amazing that he hadn't gotten killed while driving. Now if only his luck would hold out...

"What do you mean it's a trap?" Yohji's voice came over the radio.

"I'll explain everything later, right now you need to get out of there as soon as you can because in moments there'll be a ton of guards storming the place."

"Are you sure the information's accurate?" Omi asked.

Having reached the site, he hopped off the motorcycle leaving near Aya's car. The vehicles were perched on a hill nearby the site, giving Ken a good view of the scene below. "I can see them preparing to storm the place. They're coming from the north entrance right now, more are preparing to go to the south entrance. You should be able to make it out the south entrance now, if you hurry."

He continued to survey the scene before him. It looked like thirty to forty guards were either already at the entrance or going there. There were several vans. Some were obviously those that the troops came in, others he couldn't identify. He slunk closer, stopping far enough away to still have a good view of the troops.

"Where are you?" Aya's simple question crackled over the radio.

"Outside. I can see their movements from here."

"Everyone pull out. We'll meet back by the vehicles." All chimed their confirmation of the order. Then one of the vans started up. Driving over to the south exit, it stopped. The guards who had been moving in that direction halted.

Something was amiss. Ken snuck closer to see what it was up to. The back of the van opened up to reveal explosives. Ken swallowed. There were too many guards at the other exit, no side exits and now explosives at the exit they were headed towards. There was no way out. Unless...

A few bounds brought him to the van. One well placed slash brought down the first opponent. Man after man fell. Diaphragm. Throat. Up under the chin to the brain. Messy gashes revealing bloody innards and entrails. Red, red, red everywhere was red. It felt like forever since he had done this. All too soon those who had been working on the van were dead.

The blood of his kills that had splashed across his face began to slowly drip down. Blood was everywhere, across the open back of the van, pooling on the ground, all over him, covering the bodies. The dead lay scattered, frozen in their moment of death like broken marionettes. A drop of blood gathered at the tip of one bladed claw. Absently, he licked it off before it could fall.

Ken glanced around the van to see if the rest of the forces had noticed. They hadn't. None of the victims had had a chance to scream, and darkness had done the rest.

Looking back towards the building, he managed to catch a glimpse of a few shadows slipping out into the trees. Pouting slightly because they were leaving already, he took one last look at the massed troops before heading off towards the meeting point.

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Kyo couldn't help but feel relief once he was outside the building and safely among the trees. Especially once he glanced back and saw the forces gathered there. Reaching the meeting point, he wiped the spatters of blood on him the best he could. He succeeded more in smudging them than actually getting it off him, but it made him feel a little bit better. His tomahawk sent most of the blood flying along the path of his weapon, and not usually right at him. That was something he was grateful for.

Nearby, Sena was wiping at the blood on his hands. He had used his weapon more as a projectile during this mission, but had gotten blood all over his hands from handling it. In an effort to get the blood off, he tried to wipe his hands on the grass.

"I wouldn't do that, kid. You might leave fingerprints. You really should wear full fingered gloves you know," Yohji strolled up, blood free. Omi was right behind him. There were times when he envied those with long ranged weapons. Not being right next to those they killed had it's advantages. They didn't have to see the look in the eyes of those they killed or end up bathed in their blood...

Aya briskly walked up, a few splashes of blood glistening on his dark coat. His face kept as carefully stoic as always. Pulling out a cloth, he carefully wiped the blood off his katana before sheathing it. He made no move to to clean any blood off his coat.

Then Ken jogged up. He was nearly drenched in blood; from the elbow down he was positively soaked, while the rest of him was crisscrossed with splashes and splatters. In sharp contrast his expression was bordering on chipper.

"Are you all right! You're covered in blood!" the surprise on Sena's face was blatant.

"It's not mine," Ken's reply was casual.

"Did you hit a jugular vein or something?" Yohji looked over his sunglasses at Ken.

He nodded absently, "Several."

"You can't go through town looking like that," Omi stated plainly.

Ken blinked at Omi for a moment before shrugging out of his jacked and pulling on the blood spattered orange shirt he had tied about his waist. "Better?"

"Not really," Yohji sighed, "Go with Aya in his car, Omi can take your motorcycle back. Let's get out of here before somebody finds us."

Kyo could have sworn he heard Aya grumble something about a Porsche not being 'just a car.'

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An uneasy feeling had settled in Aya's stomach, but he wasn't sure why. Something was wrong... but what?

The drive back to the apartment was silent. Aya glanced over at Ken who was quietly staring out the window, his previous bounds of energy having dissipated. For a moment Aya found himself worrying that Ken had fallen back into his previous muteness.

"You drive like an old granny."

Aya glanced at the speedometer. He was going over the speed limit. Not by an excessive amount, but enough to get him a ticket should the law enforcement be inclined. "I drive like a normal person."

"Exactly."

Aya sighed.

Back at the apartment, they found the others milling about, waiting for their turn at the shower. Currently both were occupied by Sena and Kyo, as they had been the bloodier ones to return first.

"So Kenken... how did you find out about the trap?" Yohji took a cigarette out of his pack.

Ken's eyes flicked to the upper corners of the ceiling, "A kritiker agent told me. And don't call me that!"

Yohji smirked, "But you haven't been protesting it lately..."

Ken shot him a glare.

Tuning out the emerging argument, Aya pondered over the last few minutes. Had he imagined that flick of the eyes? Neither Yohji nor Omi seemed to have noticed it. What had Ken been looking for around the ceiling? Surveillance? Was Kritiker monitoring them?

Glancing upward towards the ceiling without turning his head, Aya scanned the corners of the ceiling. Something seemed off about one corner. He couldn't tell for sure without getting closer but he was pretty sure something was being hidden there.

It was understandable that they would be monitored, but why would Ken check for it before giving his response?

Unless... Kritikerhad set them up.

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A/N - We're getting closer to the grand finale! Soon all of those annoying mysteries will be revealed! Yay! But a few more mysteries have to pop up and some people have to end up six feet under. Shiro will once again appear in the next chapter and confuse people with his monologues. Well not really. He'll appear but will refrain from doing a monologue. And I should really stop talking now because when I get going like this I have a tendency to give things away and that would be really bad. I put a run on sentence in there somewhere didn't I?

Review Button: Stop talking already and write the next chapter.


	16. Ashes, Ashes, We all Fall down

**Review Responses!**

Queen Narca - I'm glad you like it!

HeatherR - I hope you like this chapter as well!

Anendee - Ken is definitely back in action! Glad you liked the chapter!

Shikigami-kun - You'll see... all the answers are coming soon!

Evelyn - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Ken was kinda creepy in the last chapter wasn't he? I hope you like this chapter as well!

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**Chapter 16 - Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down**

Dead.

A young woman had been found murdered that morning. Omi had made a habit of watching the news every morning as watching would often provide a hint at what their upcoming missions may be. However, this news report left him speechless. The young woman who had been murdered was Birman. He hadn't known it was her until they had shown a picture of her when she was alive. They never showed the dead on the news.

Birman was dead.

The thought, the very idea, that Birman was gone was hard for him to grasp even hours later, when he was watching the shop. He had known her for a long time and known how tough she was. Who could have gotten the drop on her? Had she been investigating something? What had happened? Was someone after Kritiker agents? Had any other agents been killed?

"Umm... excuse me..."

...Oh right, customers. Omi instantly graced his features with a bright smile, "How can I help you?"

"I'd like to buy some oleander."

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Manx looked weary. Dark circles were under her eyes and her usual fire was muted. The inhabitants of the Koneko were gathered in the basement around her, each occupying a different spot in the room, waiting for her to begin whatever she came to tell.

"Someone has been hunting down and killing Kritiker agents."

"Then that was Birman on the news?" Sena blurted out.

Manx took a deep breath before replying, "Yes, that was her. She hasn't been the only one who has been killed either. For the past two weeks a Kritiker agent has been killed nearly every other night. Someone knows who we are."

"So those serial killings on the news have all been Kritiker agents?"

"Yes."

Two weeks ago... It had started right after their last mission. Aya looked down in thought. Could this be connected to the trap that night? If Ken hadn't contacted them when he did they could have been killed. Something was off. Ken had said a Kritiker agent had told him but the way he acted suggested he was suspicious of Kritiker. Ever since that night Aya had had a nagging sense that they were being watched.

"You all must be very careful. We can't afford to loose any more agents. Should the killer come after you are to report them immediately. I would advise you not to wander alone. Too many agents have been killed on their own already. Be careful," and with that, she left.

"This sounds like something out of a horror movie..." Sena muttered.

"Well we know the rules for horror movies don't we? We just need to follow them," Yohji said helpfully, "No splitting up to look around after something suspicious, no going after the killer on your own... and when the creepy music starts, run like hell."

"Who ever is going after the Kritiker agents is just a hired killer like us. We know how they think. We should be able to catch them don't you think?" Kyo looked optimistic.

"Kyo, we don't know if this person is acting alone or not. Have you seen any of the crime scene reports? Who ever is causing these murders hardly seems sane from the carnage," Omi sighed unhappily.

"Have you found any patterns to it?" Yohji asked.

"Not yet. Knowing they were all Kritiker agents will help though."

"Let me know what you discover," Aya stood, and started to go towards the stairs.

"You'll have to investigate Kritiker for that information to be of any help," Ken spoke for the first time since the meeting started.

Aya paused and turned to look at Ken. The young man sat quietly, contemplating some spot on the floor. He had seemed so distant lately. Then again, he had hardly been normal ever since they had gotten him back. He had been getting better for a while, but ever since that mission he wasn't so sure anymore. Somehow Aya had the feeling that even though he was there with them, they were loosing him just the same.

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Yawning, Sena made his way to the kitchen. It was late enough to be early, but Sena had found himself unable to set to sleep after waking up from a dream. He wasn't sure what the dream was about, other than that it had been ominous. It wasn't one of those dreams that make you afraid to go back to sleep, but somehow sleep continued to elude him. Not to say he wasn't tired. He had decided a midnight snack might help.

The soft sounds of a radio drifted out of the dark kitchen. Had someone forgotten to turn it off? No. It wasn't on earlier. Body tense, he flipped on the light. Inside the kitchen, he found Ken standing motionless, staring at the radio.

"Ken?"

Sena almost thought he hadn't heard him, but then Ken slowly turned his head to look at him. Ken's face was blank and his unreadable. There was something about the way he moved that unnerved Sena. The radio was solemnly reporting another murder. Ken silently swept out of the room.

Forcing himself to relax, Sena walked over and turned off the radio. After examining the contents of the refrigerator, he decided on a glass of milk. Sena paused. The kitchen was as quiet as a coffin. No wonder Ken had turned on the radio.

He sighed. What a thing to find when all you wanted was a little noise. He knew his teammates were all haunted, by their pasts, their jobs... The news never did anything to reassure them. The news never gave any good news, only bad news it seemed. After gulping down his glass of milk he turned off the light in the kitchen and made his way back upstairs.

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"Koi? What do you think of what's happening to Kritiker?" Shiro sat next to the koi pond, enjoying the dewy morning, "It's appropriate don't you think? It's being ripped apart from the inside. Like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon."

Contentedly, Shiro watched the colorful fish swim, "Your probably wondering why I decided to include Siberian in this. Well you know what they say, those capable of the deepest kindness are also capable of the deepest cruelty. Besides, it seems poetic that one of their killing tools is turned against them." He sat there for several hours, while the koi lazily swam about, occasionally begging him for food.

Footsteps approached, "Shiro."

"I have your next target," he held up a plain envelope, "Everything you need to know is in there. It's time we hit them harder."

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**A/N -** The next chapter won't take as long to write. I already have it planned out, I just need to type it down and iron out the ending. The story is nearly over! One, maybe two, chapters left. Everything is going to get resolved. Yay!

Review Button: Pay no attention to the babbling writer. I'm much more interesting. Speculation makes people happy. Leave your guesses as to what's going to happen with me. Or anything else you would like. I'm really not that picky.


	17. The Way to Measure Life

**A/N -**

Many thanks to: Kiori133, shikigami-kun, RosefaerietaleRed, HeatherR, Anendee, Evelyn, and especially Gillian Sillis for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate all the feed back and encouragement.

I never thought that this story would make it this far. This was the first Weiss fic I ever started. I've come a long way with my writing and I think that this fic shows that. I never would have made it this far if it hadn't been for all you readers out there and especially everyone that has ever reviewed this story.

Everyone, thank you.

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**Chapter 17 – The Way to Measure Life**

Three weeks had gone by since Manx had informed Weiss of the serial killer targeting Kritiker agents. In those three weeks, there had been a steady stream of murders. No clues had been left behind that could lead them to the murderer. Who ever was picking them off was good.

Looking over the autopsy and police reports, Kyo tried to find some sort of pattern or clue to how this serial killer was picking the victims. Not having access to the Kritiker database was proving troublesome however. How could you find patterns when you didn't know what their jobs in Kritiker were? There were no patterns in age or gender nor in their day jobs. He somehow doubted Kritiker would let him into their database of agents. Perhaps he could get Omi to help him hack into the system later.

He couldn't sit and wait for the killer to eventually come after them.

However, he had found one trend in the murders. They were getting more vicious. At first the victims were killed with only a several slashes of some form of blade or knife in a vital location. In the latest murder the body was cut up so badly it was nearly shredded. The photographs of the crime scene nearly made him sick. He couldn't just sit around and wait for this murderer to come after them.

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"Tell me, was it really necessary to cut up the last one so much?"

"I was trying to cover up as much of the carpet as possible."

"Why is that?"

"It was a very ugly carpet."

"It was white."

"Exactly."

Shiro sighed, "No matter, Kritiker is crippled now. It will be a long time before they can act like they once did. We just need to finish it off."

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The crisp morning air greeted Aya as he opened the kitchen window. Despite all that had been happening, the sun still rose and the world went on. He supposed the thought should be comforting, but today it seemed depressing. Civilizations could fall and the earth could care less.

"Morning Aya!" Sena's voice was far too cheerful for Aya's mood. Ignoring the glare that was sent his way, Sena began to talk about something that seemed important to him.

Aya poured himself a mug of tea and stalked out of the kitchen, disregarding Sena's indignant cry. It wasn't that Aya disliked Sena, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now.

He found Omi in the living room, once again scouring over the news for any new murders. He had seen Yohji earlier as well. It seemed everyone was up and about this morning. He wondered where Ken had gotten off to. Ken had already left the room when he woke up and he had yet to run into him.

Sighing, he decided to check elsewhere.

Ken had been acting strangely. He had never been quite right since they had found him again but lately it was almost as if there was something darker there. It worried him.

Aya found Ken in the back of the shop, repotting some plants.

"The shop is closed today. You don't have to do that."

Ken looked up at him, "I never thought that you would be the one to say that."

"Something is bothering you."

"I'm not part of the team anymore Aya, you don't have to pretend to care."

Before Aya could reply, Kyo appeared behind him and told him that Manx had arrived and wished to speak with Weiss. He looked back at Ken before turning to leave.

Ken just frowned at him from where he was repotting the monkshood.

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Yohji couldn't put his finger on it but something was wrong. Correction, had been seriously wrong for weeks now. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but it had set him on edge to the point of keeping him awake at night and keeping him from sleeping in.

Manx's presentation had been brief. Kritiker was pulling Weiss in to protect Persia. They had reason to believe that their mysterious foe was going to try to kill Persia and bring an end to Kritiker once and for all. Weiss was going to be there to stop them.

Yohji trailed after Manx as she ascended the stairs. Once again it came down to them to put an end to things. A permanent end. How much more blood must be spilled before the endless cycle of death is broken?

Ken was sitting in a chair with a steaming mug in front of the muted TV when they came into the living room. Yohji didn't know if he would ever get used to Ken no longer being a part of Weiss especially when he still saw him every day. Not that he wanted Ken sent away, it was just... strange.

Manx bid them farewell and stepped out into the night. Yohji nearly missed the angry look Ken sent Manx's retreating form.

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Guard duty was boring, Sena decided. It was just hours of standing and trying to be alert. The problem was that you wanted it to remain boring, which just made it even _more_ boring. Which made no sense at all.

At least the hallways were well lit. That would make it harder for anyone to sneak in. That is as long as the lightning storm outside didn't short out the power or someone didn't short it out for them. Being an assassin really had shown him how many holes there were in even the tightest security.

Which was probably why Persia had called them in as guards. Which made perfect sense.

Persia. Omi was in the room with him. Aya was outside the door. The rest of them were scattered though the grounds. All of them had their radios on at all times.

Clank.

Sena's head whipped around towards the noise, "I thought I heard something."

"Be careful," Omi's voice came over the radio.

"Aren't I always?"

"That's what I'm worried about..." Omi muttered.

"I heard that."

"Just don't take any risks okay?" Omi sighed.

Sena crept around the corner. Before him lay a high ceilinged room cut in half by a walkway that covered half of it. The lower half was used as a lunch room. The walls were lined with a few vending machines and the main floor was covered with tables and chairs. The upper half led to more offices.

It was empty. And quiet.

The silence which had before seemed merely boring suddenly seemed oppressive and heavy. His instincts were screaming at him to get out of there. Pushing the warnings aside, he cautiously slipped into the room.

Carefully he picked his way though the forest of tables, looking for any clues as to what had made the sound he had heard before. A drop of something landed on the table next to him. Blood. He looked up. The second level. He slipped over towards the stairs.

"Have you found anything?" Yohji's voice came over the radio.

"There's some blood dripping from above me. I'm going to go take a look."

"Horror movie rules, kid. We know something's dead or dying up there. And it ain't one of us. Return to your position. We know our opponent is here."

"Right..." Sena made his way back to the doorway.

Outside lightning and thunder clashed almost simultaneously and everything went dark.

"Great just what we need, a power outage," Sena groaned.

"It's cliché, but it works."

"Actually this one is real," Omi's voice explained, "That lightning caused the outage."

"This is no time for chatter. Everyone needs to be alert," Aya's clipped tones held no room for argument.

"Right right..." Sena sighed, hearing his teammates had helped to ease the tension. Now it would be just him and the silence again.

The next thing he knew there was a sharp impact to the back of his head, and then everything went black.

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Kyo carefully watched the still, quiet halls. He kept getting this nagging feeling that something bad had happened. He hadn't heard anything over the radio so the rest of the team should be fine right? He was just worrying too much.

With nary a creak, one of the doors opened.

Kyo dropped into a battle stance, his weapon ready. But the figure who entered the hallway was hardly what he expected. A young man of about twenty, arms loaded full of file folders stumbled into the hallway, Kyo's presence startled him and sent folders scattering across the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Kyo's tone was serious.

"I... I was working late... filing things. Is something going on, Havana?"

"You work for Kritiker?"

The young man gave a mysterious smile, "I'm the records keeper, my name is Shiro."

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Yohji looked down the dark empty hallway straining to catch sight of any from of movement. He hadn't heard anything from Sena, and that worried him. Yohji turned his gaze to the other end of the hall. He was stationed at a junction of hallways that formed a T shape. Two directions the intruder could come from, and the path to Persia behind him.

A slight noise caught his attention, he focused his gaze on the direction of the noise and readied his wire. His eyes widened as a shadow of a person came into view.

"Ken! What are you doing here!"

Ken stood in the hall, his arms loosely at his sides. His eyes seemed dead. "I need to see Persia."

It was then Yohji noticed the blood covering Ken's weapons, "Ken… what happened? Your covered in blood."

"I need to see Persia. It's important."

Something was definetly not right and it made Yohji uneasy. He pushed the feeling aside. It was Ken. And even if he wasn't on missions with them anymore he was still one of them.

Yohji adjusted his radio, "Aya, Ken's here, he says he needs to speak with Persia. It's important."

Pain flashed briefly in Ken's eyes.

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Aya frowned. Something seemed seriously wrong with Ken. Hoping it just had to with whatever Ken had to discuss with Persia, he had let Ken pass. He was also worried about the blood all over Ken's gloves. Had he been on a mission tonight? He hadn't thought so...

Aya was snapped out of his musings by the sound of two gunshots.

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Kyo stood frozen as the barrel of a gun was pointed directly at him. His initial suspicions of the man in front of him has just proved correct.

"I would rather not kill you as you are just a pawn in all this, but I won't hesitate to kill you if I need to."

"Why are you doing this?" Kyo was sure his teammates had heard the shot. He just needed to buy them time to get there.

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Omi was frozen with shock. Persia was mortally wounded with four deep, parallel gashes. Manx had her gun out and pointed at Ken, who was clutching a wounded shoulder.

It had all happened within seconds, Ken's attack, Manx's shot, and now the long still moment as they all fought their own internal battle. Omi felt like his world was breaking. Why? Why would Ken do this?

The moment was broken when Aya burst through the door.

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The shot had almost seemed to come from two different directions to Yohji. Making his best guess at which direction it had really come from he silently took off running. He ducked into a doorway when he saw them. A young man had Kyo at gunpoint and Kyo was trying to keep the man's full attention.

Yohji sent out his wire, immobilizing the man. Kyo finished him off with one sweep of his axe. Reeling in the wire, Yohji was glad it was over with.

All at once chaos erupted over the radio. Omi was distraught, Aya was shouting and asking why. Ken responded with something about them being pawns in a power struggle between the Takatori. Then Aya and Omi began shouting for Ken to stop.

Both Yohji and Kyo took off running. Kritiker would recover somehow, it was their friend they were worried about.

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Ken had taken off running down through the hallways taking turns in an attempt to loose them and trying not to get himself lost in the process. He had been surprised by their presence here. After he had knocked out Sena he had hoped that he wouldn't have to confront them directly, but of course that had not been the case.

He flung open the door in front of him and felt his heart sink. He had reached the roof. Frantically, he searched the roof for another entrance, any other roof that was close enough to jump to, anything...

His shoulder was throbbing where Manx shot him. He was loosing a lot of blood, but he couldn't afford to stop to bandage it now, instead putting pressure on the wound with his good hand, hoping to slow the bleeding. He snapped towards the door when he heard it open.

He found Aya standing there. He turned away, unable to meet his gaze. He couldn't bear to see the hate that he knew would be there.

"Ken..." Aya's voice was soft, "Come back."

"I can't go back," his throat felt tight. They already felt he had betrayed them. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he found out that they hated him. His only choice was to run away.

"Ken..."

He tried to shake off a wave of dizziness from all the blood he was loosing. Why was Aya making this harder?

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"It's okay, you already have my replacement. You don't need me anymore," Ken walked over to the edge of the building, looking out across the sleeping city.

"It's not okay," Aya's voice was almost to soft to catch.

Ken looked back at Aya.

"I said it's not okay," Aya repeated, his voice stronger this time, "I already hate my family. Don't make me hate you too."

Ken frowned, "You hate them?"

"I hate them for leaving me behind and making me feel this way! For making me feel guilty for surviving. For being left behind. No one can ever be replaced! No one! You can have another person do their job but they can never replace that person. No matter how lost or how far that person has fallen. No one can ever replace them," Aya took a tentative step towards Ken, "You three, you've become my brothers. You've become part of my family now. I'm not going to lose any of you." No matter what happened, no matter what had happened to Ken while he had been captured, he wasn't going to let any of that destroy their team.

"You've already lost me," Ken replied softly, "I'm not the person you knew anymore."

"Your not completely lost yet."

Ken gave a sad smile, "That's right, I still have much farther to fall don't I?"

"You can still find your way back to the way you were before," Aya refused to give an inch.

"I can't. Things can never go back."

"Ken..."

"But the way things were will always stay in your heart, and wear you out. Can't you see? Nothing ever stays the same. Ever. If things did, the world would be bland. That's what makes death beautiful. That's what makes life beautiful. The only way to measure life, is death," Ken half turned back to the view of the city.

Aya took another step closer bringing him into arm's reach, being careful to not make it seem like he was cornering Ken. "Which is why you should not give up on yourself so easily."

"Heh, I'd have never thought I'd hear those words come out of you."

"Your not old, you still have a chance to make something good come out of life."

"Everything that comes out of my life seems to involve death."

"Then perhaps it's time to make something new?" Aya extended his hand out to Ken, hoping he would take it.

"Not likely, but thanks for trying," Ken gave him a sad smile, and stepped away.

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Yohji had fallen behind in the hallways and hoped he could find the path that Ken had taken. Instead he found Aya, his face ashen, walking slowly towards him.

"Aya! Where's Ken?" As soon as Yohji met Aya's gaze he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"He's not coming back."

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END

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